Gambit

No, it's not the X-Men character Marvelites! No, this is my take on Gambit (a 2012 remake of an original 1966 film that starred Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine) when I recently watched it for the first time, on DVD. My opinion in a nutshell? It was alright. It was a bit of a case of -  'nnnng...arrrgh...oh....gah....meh". For me, Gambit is a bit of a dissapointment because from the looks of the trailers and press leading up to this film, it was being sold as a slick, modern remake of a crime thriller with healthy influxes of comedy. I think on both counts, the results were a bit half-arsed. As I say, it was a bit of a let down. Yes there were several positive points but sadly not enough to save the overall result and indeed the film.

In essence, the story of the film is thus. Top art curator Harry Deane (Colin Firth) feels put upon, under-appreciated, and harassed by his powerful, wealthy and ruthless boss Lord Shabandar (Alan Rickman) and thus plots to con him into buying a fake Monet painting, with the aid of Texas cowgirl P J Puznowski (Cameron Diaz).

Three of the crucial saving graces of this film, are the three main characters. All incredibly well known stars, and all capable of supreme acting talent. Yet each of these star performances are tainted by the poorly constructed manner in which they are fashioned and presented to the audience. Directed by Michael Hoffman, written by the Cohen brothers, this film should have been presented if not superbly, at least well enough for its conception and delivery to not be seen as forcible problems for someone watching it. Whether through direction, writing, lack of vision, lack of talent or whatever, the three main stars are rarely, if at all allowed to come into their own.

Colin Firth, who has wowed us with his ability in films such as The King's Speech, alongside thrilling us with his affably comic ability in the Bridget Jones films, is not best presented in Gambit. Yes his Harry Deane is endearing enough, but his mannerisms often seemed stunted and stifled to me, resulting in his character not even being able to fully embrace the comedic and "typically" British aspects of his character.
The same can be sort of said of Alan Rickman, an actor of legendary talent and repute, and deservedly so. Yet here they seem to be deliberately limiting him to either woefully brash and loud eccentricity (which I'm sure he enjoyed regardless) or sly and vaguely venomous quips. This he does well, but you really get the sense that (despite a few sparsely placed pure Alan Rickman moments) that there is so much to give from this character, and the great actor behind him, which is sadly left untapped. 

Finally Cameron Diaz and her role in Gambit seem to have been very closeted to that of a brashly Texan cowgirl to clash with the stereotypical and even politically incorrect British-ness of the rest of the film (including thick Texan accent and 'mindset' that get away from Diaz several times). If not that, then they seem to have gone back to using her as the pretty face of the film. Like Firth and Rickman, this is all well and good I suppose but I, like many others watching this film, know that it really is a case of cheap shots, and it is odd and disappointing when an actor of such fame and quality can do much more.

Apart from these three there were some welcome supporting roles from Stanley Tucci and Tom Courtenay, but yet again I was expecting great roles from greatly talented and renowned actors, and instead the two results were definitely ranging into the stereotypical and poorly construed. Also worth a mention were Pip Torrens and Julian Rhind-Tutt, who lightened the mood briefly as two innuendo-laced Savoy concierges. But even then, their scenes felt lazily done at times and their screen time wasn't nearly long enough. 

I really do feel that the many failings of Gambit lie with the actors/characters, but through not much fault of their own. Watching the film it really does seem to me to be a lot of cases of 50% shown and not much more. All together they are enough to produce quite a good watch for an hour and a half or so, but with such a great cast with possibly insurmountable ability and potential, I do feel that perhaps the writers, directors and producers let this film down. Which is a shame, because as I say, I was ready to really love this one, and as it is I just got to the point of liking it.