Nothing is blatantly wrong with this larkish, lavishly produced heist thriller.
Cinematographer Matteo Cocco lovingly lenses the Rome and Paris location settings, particularly the latter’s Palace du Louvre, and its iconic glass-and-steel pyramid entrance. Production designer Paki Meduri devotes similar attention to the often lush interiors and grittier underground environments, and composer Polérik Rouvière’s score adds appropriate bounce to the heist and action sequences.
 |
| Chiara (Simona Tabasco) and Jay (Victor Belmondo, right) fist-bump their new partnership, while mastermind Roger (Stanley Tucci) beams with pleasure. |
Stars Stanley Tucci, Victor Belmondo and Simona Tabasco are pleasing to the eye, and their line deliveries are genre-appropriate ... and that’s part of the problem.
The script — credited to five (!) writers — never catches fire. Thomas Vincent’s soulless direction is too slick; Tucci, Belmondo and Tabasco’s characters are too glib, their banter too coy, their expressions too movie. I don’t doubt that they had fun making this film, but not for a moment do their characters feel like real people.
To quote Humphrey Bogart’s classic line from 1941’s The Maltese Falcon, their performances are, much too blatantly, “the stuff that dreams are made of” ... and very little else.
Chiara (Tabasco), a gifted Italian cybercrime expert, is introduced mid-heist at a lavish, upscale Roman toga party. Jay (Belmondo), a limber French athlete and talented explosives expert, similarly is burgling the presidential suite in a Parisian hotel.
Both receive a can’t-resist invitation to meet Roger (Tucci) at his lavishly appointed Lake Como mansion. Their first surprise comes upon learning that Roger actually is the “Snow Leopard,” a legendary master thief. Their second surprise hits immediately thereafter, when Roger reveals that they’re actually half-siblings ... and he’s their father.
The third, and biggest surprise? He needs their unique skills to successfully steal the Louvre’s iconic Mona Lisa.
Their reactions to that proposal are understandable. Ridiculous. Can’t be done.
Ah, but Roger has spent 10 years crafting the perfect plan, and the perfect moment is at hand: October 18, seven days hence, when the museum guards go on strike, leaving a meager support staff. (Cheekily, the actual Louvre heist occurred on October 19.)
Roger, convinced that temptation and skill are inbred via “thief genetics,” knows full well that Jay and Chiara will accept. Which they do.
The plan is too complicated and far-fetched to have any semblance of reality, although the preliminary steps have understandable goals. All three get to work as the next seven days count down on the screen; Jay and Chiara gradually bond at the same time. Each initially believes his/her skill is more important; each gently disses the other. It’s all lighthearted and playful; Belmondo and Tabasco bounce off each other in an engaging manner.
There’s also a mounting sense of regret, as each realizes — under different circumstances — that they could have become a lustful couple (if only briefly).
Roger keeps them focused, and — in fairness — Tucci always is fun to watch, even with material this superficial. His suave sophistication is effortless, the twinkle in his gaze frequently suggesting mischief.
Belmondo, grandson of the famed Jean-Paul Belmondo, doesn’t yet possess the family flair, but he’s quick with a quip and certainly has a persuasive physique for Jay’s grittier tasks. Tabasco, perhaps recognized from HBO’s “The White Lotus,” makes Chiara flirty, sexy and persuasively accomplished as a tech genius. She also gets excellent use out of her way-cool “dragonfly drones.”
Naturally, Things Are Not As They Seem; naturally, Things Go Wrong.
Roger’s high-profile art fence, Bruno Van Klum (Mark Ivanir), seems a dangerous sort: particularly when accompanied by his thuggish companions.
Coincidence and contrivance mount, as events build to a climax laden with a couple of predictable twists. Although Masterplan isn’t an unpleasant way to spend a couple of hours, I wish Vincent and his writing posse had tried harder.
No comments:
Post a Comment