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Flawless

That title is just asking to be mocked

By Matt Pais

Metromix
March 27, 2008

Critic's Rating:

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After frustrated American exec Laura Quinn (Demi Moore) finds out she can't rise any higher--and is about to be fired--in the London Diamond Corporation in 1960, she agrees to help a janitor (Michael Caine) pull an inside job and swipe more than a million pounds in diamonds.

Big question: After "Mad Money" and "The Bank Job," who wants to watch another heist flick?

Skip it: Priority numero uno in a heist movie should be making the robbery giddily dangerous, but "Flawless" has all the sizzle of a bank teller on Monday morning. Caine can make even stale fruit seem juicy, but stuffy old men in suits aren't exactly the zestiest villains.

Catch it: To see Laura learn that ballet, vodka and diamonds are the three things closest to some Russians' hearts. And the recipe for one tough-to-swallow cocktail.

Bottom line: "Flawless" raises issues about sexist corporate practices (and dangerous mining conditions) but doesn't do anything with them other than use them as Laura's motivation for revenge. If you doze off, at least wake up for the unintentionally funny ending that swings from an absurd attempt to become an old-school thriller to a wrap-up that’s as pointless as it is self-congratulatory.

Bonus: The movie is told as a flashback, which means that at the beginning Moore is decked out in full, would-you-believe-this-woman-is-80-years-old makeup. It looks ridiculous, but at least it gives Ashton Kutcher a preview of how his wife will look when he's a young, strapping man of 65.

What do you think of 'Flawless'? Email me: mpais@tribune.com