The Love Punch

Emma Thompson reteams here with British writer/director Joel Hopkins, who previously cast her in the underrated romantic comedy Last Chance Harvey opposite Dustin Hoffman. This time he's paired her with Pierce Brosnan in a screwball caper full of fizz and pop that tracks the bumbling efforts of a divorced couple to steal a diamond from the fat cat (Laurent Lafitte) who has squandered their pension fund. Hopkins may be courting an older audience here, but not necessarily a more mature one. Thompson and Brosnan are giddy as schoolkids on a mission that takes them to the French Riviera, where they scale cliff-faces, get into car chases, and, yes, fall in love with each other all over again. The chemistry is bang on and Celia Imrie and Timothy Spall provide sterling back-up. If the plot is a bit clumsy, that's more than made up for with sheer exuberance and plenty of cheeky banter. It's utterly silly but that is also the film's charm, proving that retirement doesn't have to mean quiet retreat.