Strange but slickly done

By TOM MEEK | March 27, 2008

2.5 Stars

Michael Caine and Demi Moore

Demi Moore in a British heist caper and dressed like Jackie O? Strange but true, and it works as Moore plays Laura Quinn, an American businesswoman up against the glass ceiling in 1960s London. Quinn toils ceaselessly for the fat cats at an international diamond exchange. Her thanks? She’s passed over and, later, played for the goat when a mine disaster triggers political repercussions with South African and Russian counterparts. The “blood diamond” edge never gets honed; instead, the film moves into bank-job territory when Mr. Hobbs (a cagy Michael Caine), the kindly janitor, enlists Laura’s help in jacking the vault. Veteran director Michael Radford (Il postino, Nineteen Eighty-Four) navigates the twists and turns adroitly, and given the muddled premise, this is a slick piece of filmmaking. But all the sparkling facets don’t make it a precious gem. 85 minutes | Kendall Square

Flotsam and jetsam
The tars are adrift in Ocean’s Thirteen
Bobby
...and everyone else
Freedom Writers
Classroom concentration camp
More

Topics: Reviews , Demi Moore , Michael Caine , Crime , More

Comments

Add a Comment

ARTICLES BY TOM MEEK

ELEGY | August 20, 2008
Sex and power dominate in this Roth adaptation

FLY ME TO THE MOON | August 13, 2008
Doesn't muster much buzz

HELL RIDE | August 05, 2008
Spaghetti western and Hell's Angels turf war

STEP BROTHERS | July 23, 2008
Farting sets the standard of good taste

SPACE CHIMPS | July 16, 2008
Witty and ingeniously conceived

See all articles by: TOM MEEK

Most Viewed

Most Emailed

FIEDLER ON THE SPOT
Having taken the reins of BU’s contentious College of Communication, Pulitzer winner Tom Fiedler learns to navigate the thorny world of academia

PHOTOS: RADIOHEAD IN BOSTON
August 14, 2008 at the Comcast Center, Mansfield, MA

WOMEN ON THE VERGE
Clinton die-hards have created a new-girls’ network bent on remedying decades of sexism by putting women in elected office

PHOTOS: NORTH KOREA'S SURREAL MASS GAMES
While everyone else watches the Olympics, Asia's weirdest sporting event transpires in the world's most secretive country

TIGER TRAP
Sports blotter: "Walking in Memphis" edition

WOMEN ON THE VERGE
Clinton die-hards have created a new-girls’ network bent on remedying decades of sexism by putting women in elected office

FIEDLER ON THE SPOT
Having taken the reins of BU’s contentious College of Communication, Pulitzer winner Tom Fiedler learns to navigate the thorny world of academia

PAPER CHASE
The counterintuitive, durable case for journalism education

TIGER TRAP
Sports blotter: "Walking in Memphis" edition

FROZEN RIVER
A cold film with a warm ending

HOT TOPICS

Daniel Day-Lewis , Jack Black , Michael Clayton , Michael Haneke , Osama bin Laden , Tom McCarthy , Paul Thomas Anderson , Michael Jackson , Paris Hilton , Tommy Lee Jones

Reviews

Flawless

The play's the thing

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

What We Do Is Secret

Elegy

Tropic Thunder