Gambit

Director: Michael Hoffman
Starring: Colin Firth, Cameron Diaz, Alan Rickman, Stanley Tucci
Certificate: 12A
Run-time: 89 minutes

IN SHORT: A heist plot that doesn't surprise and a comedic script that makes you chuckle occasionally. Gambit is average across the board.

Gambit is a remake of a 1966 Michael Caine classic of the same name. The movie has been in pre-production limbo since the Coen brothers adapted the script in the latter end of the 90's. Various actors and actresses such as Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Ben Kingsley and Gerard Butler were all attached to star at one point or another. For whatever reason, these actors turned the movie down before it could even get off the ground. It was just another failed script until Colin Firth attached his name at the beginning of 2011, which gave the project much-needed momentum.

Firth plays the quintessentially British art curator, Harry Deane. Deane feels that his megalomaniac boss Lionel Shahbandar (Alan Rickman) undervalues and mistreats him, so he wants to teach him a lesson. Deane's plan is to supply Shahbandar with a forged replica of Monet's painting 'Haystacks at Dusk'. The painting was lost somewhere in America after WW2 and is a wet-dream for any art aficionado. To pull off the perfect heist, he needs the help of PJ (Cameron Diaz), a wild rodeo queen who has never left Texas, and his driver the Major, who has an uncanny knack of forging famous paintings.

Firth as the largely incompetent Harry Deane, in Gambit

Gambit advertises itself as an elaborate heist film but the plot is disappointingly predictable. In a film such as this, you want to be kept on your toes but Gambit's no-thrills plot will keep you firmly seated. It's not that the film is badly written, it's just that the twists and turns are too sign-posted to be surprising to the audience, which isn't something you'd associate with a Coen bros script. The influence of the Coen's can be felt through the snappy, intellectual dialogue and eccentric characters but it's fair to say that this isn't their best work.

Although the plot is simplistic and under-developed, Gambit does have a certain charm that makes the film easy to watch. Whilst not laugh out loud material, the script's use of wink-wink-nudge-nudge innuendo produces a few chuckles. The comedic tone isn't always consistent though; witty one-liners are juxtaposed with fart gags and dated slapstick comedy. In a Chaplin-esque scene, Firth scales the Savoy hotel's window-ledge without any trousers on. If you're an alien who's never seen a comedy before, perhaps such a scene will amuse you. For the rest of us, it's all a bit childish.

I wasn't feeling much chemistry between PJ and Deane.

As far as character is concerned, everyone is a stereotype. Sassy, dim-witted and uncultured - Diaz's PJ Puznowski isn't helping Texan stereotypes. Stanley Tucci turns up as a camp Austrian art curator named Martin Zaidenweber who pronounces the word and as 'und'. And yet, the world of the film is so screwball and unrealistic, these characters somehow work. Harry Deane, could've been more endearing and sympathetic, as his heist seems to be driven more by monetary impulse rather than revenge. As Shahbandar, Alan Rickman is supposed to be the bad guy but his pompous nature and over-sized ego make him oddly likeable.

Whilst Gambit isn't a blemish on Firth or Diaz's career, it's certainly not a highlight either. Gambit is semi-successful as a goofy comedic throwback and almost a failure as a riveting heist film. You get the feeling that everyone involved thinks this film is funnier and more inventive than it actually is. Overall, Gambit is the kind of TV movie you'll find yourself watching on a rainy Sunday afternoon when you've lost the remote down the back of the sofa. Inoffensive and pleasant but also easily forgettable.