Movie of the Week 56

Gambit   2012   crime comedy

It was the screenplay by the Coen brothers and a stellar cast led by Colin Firth, Cameron Diaz and Alan Rickman that convinced me to try this unheralded British film. And I am sure glad I did. This gem is a classic caper-comedy about art curator Harry Deane (Colin Firth) hatching a plan to sell a forgery of a famous Monet painting to his ruthless billionaire boss Lionel Shabandar (Rickman). Deane picks American rodeo queen, P.J. Puznowski (Diaz) as his accomplice, for very clever reasons that I will not spoil. 
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This very British comedy was written by the very American Coen brothers, with wry and witty results. This is simple and straightforward comedy with plenty of wonderfully eccentric characters. Harry Deane gets into the most unfortunate and ridiculous of circumstances that sometimes warrant a punch in the nose as his foolproof plan goes haywire. Alan Rickman plays a very rich, formal and ruthless CEO who becomes quite taken by P.J. Puznowski. Their conversations in the backseat of his Rolls Royce limo are some of the funniest scenes in the movie.

Cameron Diaz once again plays a very pretty, perky, unsophisticated girl, and is pure fun to watch as she busts loose one-liners in a thick Texas accent. Overall, this is one very entertaining film. I recommend it highly should you be looking for a good crime-comedy that never takes itself too seriously. This film is a rare bird: entirely free of vulgarity, annoying diversity casting, and political correctness (or propaganda of any kind, for that matter).I enjoyed it a lot.

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