The Last Diamond

After teaming up so successfully on The Serpent (2006), director Eric Barbier and actor Yvan Attal reunite for this slick caper that harks back to the glory days of the French heist movie. Attal plays the safecracker paroled from prison who hooks up with trusted accomplice Jean-François Stévenin and the less-than-reliable go-between Antoine Basler to case the 137-carat Florentine diamond that is being auctioned by jewellery expert Bérénice Bejo. She is feeling vulnerable after the unexplained death of her mother and Attal is detailed to pose as a security consultant. It's then that the two become close. Barbier's thriller never reaches the heights of Jules Dassin's masterful Rififi (1955), but the bid to purloin the gem is meticulously staged, and the pace really picks up after the robbery when Bejo realises she's been duped. The director also makes acute use of his chic locations by keeping Denis Rouden's restless camera close to the characters. In truth, Bejo and Attal lack a certain romantic spark, but Barbier still manages to spring several neat surprises in the final stretch.