# Flawless (2007 film)
**Flawless** is a 2007 British-[Luxembourgish](https://www.edgepedia.org/luxembourgish) heist drama directed by Michael Radford, written by Edward Anderson, and starring [Michael Caine](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-caine) and [Demi Moore](https://www.edgepedia.org/demi-moore) as two employees of the London Diamond Corporation who conspire to steal diamonds from their employer in 1960 London.[1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/131157/) • [2](https://blueriderpictures.com/flawless/) The film was released in Spain on 5 October 2007 and in the United States on 28 March 2008, and it earned mixed reviews with a worldwide gross of about $6.8 million against an estimated $20 million budget.[1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/131157/) • [3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780516/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / writer | Michael Radford; screenplay by first-time screenwriter Edward Anderson[1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/131157/) • [4](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/nov/28/flawless-demi-moore-michael-caine) |
| Setting | London in 1960, at the London Diamond Corporation[2](https://blueriderpictures.com/flawless/) |
| Lead cast | Michael Caine as janitor Mr Hobbs; Demi Moore as executive Laura Quinn; Lambert Wilson as investigator Finch[5](https://waarkanikdatkijken.nl/flawless) |
| Runtime | 104 minutes per the Spanish certification record; 108 minutes per IMDb and Common Sense Media[6](https://sede.mcu.gob.es/CatalogoICAA/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=91607) • [3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780516/) |
| Release | Spain 5 October 2007; United States 28 March 2008; United Kingdom 28 November 2008[1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/131157/) |
| Box office | Estimated budget $20,000,000; worldwide gross $6,819,587, of which $1,200,234 came from the US and Canada[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780516/) |
| Reception | 56% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (95 reviews); Metascore 57 on Metacritic[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10008754-flawless) • [8](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/flawless/critic-reviews/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Laura Quinn (Demi Moore) is the only female executive at the London Diamond Corporation, an Oxford-educated businesswoman who is repeatedly passed over for promotion while her male colleagues advance.[9](https://www.startribune.com/movie-review-flawless-is-stylish-suspenseful/17057121) Mr Hobbs (Michael Caine) is the company's night janitor, a man who has spent decades of under-appreciated work learning how to get into the vault and steal a handful of diamonds without detection.[4](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/nov/28/flawless-demi-moore-michael-caine) Hobbs approaches Quinn with a proposal: he needs her help with the safe combination, and he tells her that a few raw diamonds will never be missed.[10](https://www.kccu.org/arts/2008-03-27/flawless?_amp=true) After she agrees, she realizes he has told her only part of his plan.[10](https://www.kccu.org/arts/2008-03-27/flawless?_amp=true)
The story is framed by present-day scenes in which an elderly Quinn recounts her tale to a young reporter interested in "women who led," placing a diamond the size of a chicken egg on the table before the film flashes back to the 1960s.[11](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/flawless) Reviewers noted that this framing promises a story of female empowerment that the plot does not fully deliver, since Quinn turns out to be a pawn in Hobbs's more elaborate scheme.[12](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/flawless/)
## Production
The film was a United Kingdom-[Luxembourg](https://www.edgepedia.org/luxembourg) co-production by Future Films Limited and Delux Productions, with backing from the Film Fund Luxembourg.[1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/131157/) It was shot in Luxembourg, where production designer Sophie Becher's team used the [European Parliament](https://www.edgepedia.org/european-parliament) building as a principal location to recreate the graphic, minimalist look of early-1960s London corporate architecture.[2](https://blueriderpictures.com/flawless/) Richard Greatrex served as cinematographer, Stephen Warbeck composed the score, and [Peter Boyle](https://www.edgepedia.org/peter-boyle) edited.[1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/131157/) The soundtrack includes "Take Five," composed by Paul Desmond and recorded by the Dave Brubeck Quartet.[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780516/)
The supporting cast included [Nathaniel Parker](https://www.edgepedia.org/nathaniel-parker), Shaughan Seymour, Nicholas Jones, Joss Ackland as the company chairman Milton Kendrick Ashtoncroft, Silas Carson, Derren Nesbitt, and [Natalie Dormer](https://www.edgepedia.org/natalie-dormer).[5](https://waarkanikdatkijken.nl/flawless)
## Release and box office
Flawless premiered at the European Film Market on 11 February 2007 and opened first in Spain, on 5 October 2007, where it was distributed as *Un plan brillante*.[13](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780516/releaseinfo/) • [6](https://sede.mcu.gob.es/CatalogoICAA/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=91607) Its Spanish run grossed €1,592,111.80 from 277,095 admissions.[6](https://sede.mcu.gob.es/CatalogoICAA/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=91607) The North American release followed on 28 March 2008 through Magnolia Pictures in 35 theaters, with an opening weekend of $181,910 and a per-screen average of $5,197.[2](https://blueriderpictures.com/flawless/) The United Kingdom release came later still, on 28 November 2008, followed by Belgium in 2009 and Portugal in 2010.[1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/131157/)
The film's commercial performance fell well short of its cost: the estimated budget was $20,000,000 against a worldwide gross of $6,819,587, including $1,200,234 in the United States and Canada and $5,597,018 across 24 foreign countries through July 2009.[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780516/) • [2](https://blueriderpictures.com/flawless/)
## Reception
Critical response was mixed. On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 56% Tomatometer from 95 reviews, with the site's critics consensus crediting "Michael Caine's excellent performance" with making the film "something more than an average heist movie"; the audience Popcornmeter stood at 55%.[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10008754-flawless) Metacritic assigned a Metascore of 57, indicating mixed or average reviews.[8](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/flawless/critic-reviews/)
**Praise centered on Caine.** Reviewers repeatedly singled out his performance as the film's strongest element: the Christian Science Monitor's Peter Rainer wrote that Caine "gives this clever, somewhat lumbering caper movie a deep-seated soul," and Common Sense Media called his work as Hobbs "top-notch," a "subtle, sly" turn late in his career.[8](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/flawless/critic-reviews/) • [11](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/flawless) [Joss Ackland](https://www.edgepedia.org/joss-ackland)'s turn as the apoplectic boss also drew favorable mention.[10](https://www.kccu.org/arts/2008-03-27/flawless?_amp=true)
**Criticisms targeted the script and structure.** NPR's Bob Mondello judged the screenplay "at best workmanlike," with a caper "neither ingenious nor credible enough to sustain interest or justify the film's ornate conclusion."[10](https://www.kccu.org/arts/2008-03-27/flawless?_amp=true) The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw found the caper "game, if far-fetched," and wrote that "the heist itself is not dramatised all that excitingly or clearly."[4](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/nov/28/flawless-demi-moore-michael-caine) Common Sense Media and Slant Magazine both faulted the modern-day framing device and the film's closing message about philanthropy as clumsy or tacked on.[11](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/flawless) • [12](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/flawless/) Positive reviews appreciated the period style: the [San Francisco Chronicle](https://www.edgepedia.org/san-francisco-chronicle)'s Mick LaSalle wrote that Radford's "conscientious, methodical presentation gives it the feeling of true history," and the Star Tribune highlighted the film's '60s fashion and its villains, sexist corporate executives.[8](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/flawless/critic-reviews/) • [9](https://www.startribune.com/movie-review-flawless-is-stylish-suspenseful/17057121)
## References
1. [Flawless, Cineuropa](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/131157/)
2. [Flawless (2008), Blue Rider Pictures](https://blueriderpictures.com/flawless/)
3. [Flawless (2007), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780516/)
4. [Flawless, review by Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian (28 November 2008)](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/nov/28/flawless-demi-moore-michael-caine)
5. [Flawless (2007), Waar kan ik dat kijken](https://waarkanikdatkijken.nl/flawless)
6. [ICAA Film Database: Flawless / Un plan brillante](https://sede.mcu.gob.es/CatalogoICAA/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=91607)
7. [Flawless, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10008754-flawless)
8. [Flawless critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/flawless/critic-reviews/)
9. [Movie review: 'Flawless' is stylish, suspenseful, Minnesota Star Tribune (28 March 2008)](https://www.startribune.com/movie-review-flawless-is-stylish-suspenseful/17057121)
10. ['Flawless', review by Bob Mondello, NPR (27 March 2008)](https://www.kccu.org/arts/2008-03-27/flawless?_amp=true)
11. [Flawless, Parents' Guide & Movie Review, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/flawless)
12. [Review: Flawless, by Nick Schager, Slant Magazine (22 January 2008)](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/flawless/)
13. [Flawless (2007) release info, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780516/releaseinfo/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 2005–2009 films › Released 2005 to 2007*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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