Michael Radford's slick and swift new heist film, Flawless, is set in a London diamond conglomerate in 1960. Laura Quinn (Demi Moore), an icy Oxford-educated American, has spent a decade and a half at the firm. She's not only married to her job, she's widowed by it, as she watches less-qualified men rise above her.
It's a revelation to see period London brought back in full splendor by the veteran director Radford, whose films have conveyed everything from Mediterranean rhapsody (Il Postino) to colonial decadence in East Africa (White Mischief). But Radford does more than bring back a gleaming era; he capitalizes on Moore's gemlike qualities. From a sex kitten in 1984's Blame It on Rio to a spooky cameo in 2006's Bobby, Moore has defied — and at times defined — her age.
Flawless doesn't require her to be perfect, however. When she's suspected of being complicit in a vengeful inside job, she becomes the corporate equivalent of a woman scorned. Michael Caine plays her co-conspirator (just as he did in Rio). As the wily cockney Mr. Hobbs, he maneuvers his way around and through Laura's vulnerabilities — as well as the diamond vault's newfangled security cameras.
Amid all the injustice, Moore maintains a regal air as the stakes climb perilously higher. A smoldering presence, Laura Quinn wears tight Jackie Kennedy suits, red lipstick, and a pained expression — presumably from hitting her head on the glass ceiling. Even if London's stodgy diamond merchants don't recognize Miss Quinn's value until it's far too late, Ms. Moore's is obvious to anyone paying attention.
