- Actors: Bérénice Bejo, Yvan Attal
- Director: Eric Barbier
- Format: Color, Dolby, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
- Language: English
- Subtitles: English
- Region: Region 1
- Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
- Number of discs: 1
- Rated: R
- Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
- DVD Release Date: July 26, 2016
- Run Time: 108 minutes
The Last Diamond is a thoroughly
enjoyable heist film, despite an uneven tone and questionable story structure.
There are many ridiculous elements to the second half of the film, despite the relative
realism in the first half, and the lighthearted humor of the beginning is also
dismissed by the film’s conclusion. Uneven as it may be, The Last Diamond is never anything less than watchable, providing
the type of popcorn entertainment expected of Hollywood in the form of a French film.
Simon (Yvan
Attal) is a career criminal who has just been released on parole from prison
when he is approached by a longtime partner in crime, Albert (Jean-François
Stévenin). The aging thief lures Simon into a plan to steal the priceless
Florentin diamond though a series of tricks and cons followed by old-fashioned
theft. There is little within the theft itself which has not been seen before
in heist movies, such as those included in the Oceans 11 franchise, but the details in the preparation are as
intelligent as they are entertaining. It isn’t until after the heist that this
attention to detail and realism is thrown out the window, and unfortunately the
heist takes place in the middle of the movie, leaving plenty of time for the
narrative to devolve into a far sillier film.
Although there
is a major heist at the center of the movie and an additional con at the
narrative’s climax, The Last Diamond
is as much a romance as it is a crime film. In Simon’s efforts to establish his
con, he pretends to be a security expert helping the woman in charge of the
diamond’s auction. Julia (Bérénice Bejo) is new to the task, filling in for her
recently deceased mother. Overwhelmed by the responsibility of the job, Julia
welcomes the help from the man she believes worked with her mother. Despite
taking advantage of Julia while she is vulnerable, Simon inevitably falls for
the woman that he is conning. This only works with the narrative because
although Simon is a bad guy, he is not the worst of the bunch.
The Last Diamond is far from a perfect
film, but I did appreciate the effort to make something both entertaining and
intelligent, even if it was rarely both at the same time. I know some hold
French cinema to a higher standard, frustrated by the devolving of the film’s
second half. Personally, I was just pleased by the intelligence of the first
half, and maybe this comes with plenty of experience watching entire films as
silly as the second half. It may suddenly feel like something out of a Mission Impossible movie, complete with
an absurd costume and a predictable stand-off, but my experience allows me the
ease of suspending my disbelief and simply enjoying the silly spectacle.
The DVD special
features include interviews with the two romantic leads, as well as an
interview with director Eric Barbier. There is also a theatrical trailer and
the DVD case comes with a booklet insert including the cast list, DVD chapter
list, and production photography.
Entertainment Value:
7.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 7/10
Historical
Significance: 4/10
Special Features: 3.5/10
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