Flawless: Grade B

Alas, this gem of a movie is flawed. Moore gives an outstanding performance as an executive in 1960 London, working for a DeBeers-like diamond supplier. She looks terrific in the period costumes and reacts with subtlety and depth when she is repeatedly passed over for promotions. Caine is a rascally janitor who, because of his unrestricted access to the building, knows all about her, her career and its frustrations. He suggests that they remove a thermos full of diamonds from the vault, retire happily, the company never the wiser. He counts on her frustration and desire for revenge. The heist goes well, with enough tension to keep us on edge, secret motives are revealed, and some unexpected twists surface. We are satisfied, as we were in The Thomas Crowne Affair, when these anti-heroes get away with it.

Or we would be satisfied if it weren't for a wrong-headed set of before and after scenes obviously tacked on later. In the opening scene, a reporter interviews an aged Moore, newly free after 30 years in prison. What that means is never explained, but it contradicts the story to be told and turns it into an emotionally distant flashback. The closing scene of the movie is Moore telling the reporter that she never heard from Caine after the heist. These scenes don’t make any sense, are unnecessary, and spoil the perfection of the movie. The opener was probably added to foil (falsely, it turns out) easy plot predictions, then the opener needed the closer. Very bad choice.

Otherwise, though, photography is clean and bright, directing and editing are good, sets and costumes are perfection. Paul Desmond’s clarinet solo from “Take Five” sets the mood. The feminist theme blends well into the story, giving the tired heist genre a lift. All the actors give strong performances. This could have been a sophisticated heist movie, until somebody realized there were no guns, explosives or car chases, so added a stupid red herring instead. You have to wonder how such poor decisions get through.

Blood Diamond: Grade C

C

Blood Diamond

Leonardo DiCaprio, Djimon Hounsou, Jennifer Connelly. Director Edward Zwick.

This movie earns a C instead of a D because the story of conflict diamonds is important and it is clearly told here. The message is pounded in with heavy handed speechifying, but I give credit for trying. Also, DiCaprio does a fine acting job, with a convincing Afrikaans accent, although he is too delicate to be fully believable as a crusty, he-man adventurer. Hounsou doesn't have many lines but is a physical actor who projects a lot of presence. I hope we see more of him. Connelly is wasted by the abyssmal dialog. (To L.D. dying, "I'm really glad I met you." L.D.: "I'm really glad I met you too."). She was so good in House of Sand and Fog, it is inexcusable to reduce her to a pretty face. The story is almost, but not quite the life-cycle of one huge raw diamond found by Hounsou in Sierra Leone. DiCaprio is a smuggler who wants to sell it to a thinly disguised DeBeers corporation. Connelly is a reporter trying to expose the blood diamond trade. Meanwhile rebels are overthrowing Sierra Leone by indiscriminate killing and recruiting of child soldiers. Corrupt generals on all sides also compete for the special diamond. Amazingly, after the second village slaughter, I became bored with slaughter. Have Hollywood editors lost all independence? I personally could have cut this movie back from 2.5 hours to 90 minutes. The African scenery is nice, but also repetitive. The violence is shocking at first, but soon I started trying to see how the special effects blood spurts were achieved. There are about 5 themes here, each worthy of a movie, but just when you think the movie is over, another theme is introduced. That's called rambling.