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Flawless is a gem. Not one of those flashy, brilliant cut stones, but more of a classy, emerald cut diamond. Multi-faceted with lots of depth.

England swings like a pendulum do, Bobbies on bicycles two by two. I can’t seem to get the Roger Miller tune out of my head when thinking about London in the 1960’s. But Flawless is less about Carnaby Street and the swinging 60’s and more about a period of time when the world underwent great change, both socially and politically. A time when women were still tied to apron strings and suffered from discrimination in the workplace. 

A slick opening depicts the journey of raw diamonds as they find their way from the African mud to the jewelers file and eventually onto the fingers of very contemporary, bespoken business women. It reminds me of the 1968 marketing slogan for Virginia Slims cigarettes, “You’ve come a long way, baby.”

At a busy restaurant, we find Laura Quinn (Demi Moore), being interviewed by a newspaper reporter (Natalie Dormer, Anne Boleyn in The Tudors) who is writing a series of articles entitled, “Women Who Led”. It seems that Quinn was quite the role model, battling her way up the corporate ladder to manager – the only female to have done so at the London Diamond Company. Moore is almost unrecognizable as a woman of a certain age; that is until she speaks and her famous rasp is evident. The next 105 minutes is a flashback based on an incident in her storied past.
 
American-born but Oxford-educated, Laura Quinn is a very devoted executive, working for Lon Di (as it was known), the world’s leading diamond corporation. It’s evident that she has forsaken personal relationships (and all the accoutrements) in order to break barriers. Ambition is her middle name. She’s also the brightest employee, certainly smart enough to figure out that it’s because she is a woman she’s being passed over for promotion after promotion. Tough-as-nails on the outside, the obvious side-tracking has left her very vulnerable. Enter Mr. Hobbs (the always magnificent Michael Caine), the company janitor with a grievance larger then the Hope Diamond. After he convinces her that she is expendable, they hatch a plan to steal a modest amount of diamonds, just enough to fill a working man’s thermos. It’s not enough to be missed in a vault teeming with gems, but more then enough for them each to live a very comfortable existence. It’s an odd coupling of thieves, but with their combined knowledge, access and axe to grind, they plan the perfect crime. Or do they?

It’s hard to believe that Demi Moore last worked with Michael Caine when she made her film debut in 1984 as his daughter in Blame it on Rio.  In Flawless, she’s the poster child for the aforementioned Virginia Slims slogan.  She wears her tailored suits and perfectly coiffed hair with great aplomb. Only her faux accent belies her credulity. But I can forgive that. Who can live in London for 20 years and not pick up a few British-inspired inflections? And Michael Caine, well, what can I say that hasn’t been said about Mr. Caine’s acting ability? He is one of the few actors of his generation who could pull off the remarkable transformation from humble janitor to architect of a slick jewel heist.

Academy Award nominated director Michael Radford (The Merchant of Venice, Il Postino) wisely avoids the usual romantic subplots which are so often interjected for effect, except for a small undercurrent of attraction and flirtation between Quinn and the lead investigator Detective Finch (Lambert Wilson). He replaces that plot gimmick with good dose of tension, suspense and plenty of twists.

And just FYI - There’s been a spate of films lately that have been based on real-life events, so if anyone is thinking that the heist in Flawless was based on an actual robbery, it’s not - it’s entirely fictional. But that shouldn’t make it any less enjoyable to savor.

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