Gambit (2012)

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

The jokes are just to die for.Seen it 5 times already and the jokes stay fresh. Some are very subtle and typically english, but other jokes are really in your face and childish , but really well done nevertheless, with hilarious results. Colin Firth running around in a hotel without his pants on, is one of those memorable scenes that might sound childish and it is, but man oh man does it give cause to great jokes and mix ups . Mind you, I normally loathe watching childish comedies, but when jokes are performed the right way, the most simplest jokes are the best. And often the simplest jokes are childish in nature, think of Peter Sellers in the Pink Panther, which has some stunning resemblances to the jokes in "Gambit".I love this story about about an intelligent con game in which a stuck up English rich guy gets sold a painting for millions that isnt worth the paper it is painted on. How it is exactly done is the mystery of this marvellous english comedy with magnificent roles by Colin Firth, Alan Rickman, Stanley Tucci and ofcourse the ever charming Cameron Diaz.This is a hilarious comedy which young kids and adults can both enjoy. Some subtle jokes are mixed in for the adults and the fart jokes are certainly liked by the kids, although I adored them as well. Come to think of it, the fart joke was one of the best!

Approx halfway through the film I realized what was nagging me that was all rather familiar?.... but of course!.... it was Inspector Clouseau (Colin Firth) getting punched on the nose 3 times, loosing his trousers, getting a glass jar stuck on his hand, getting stranded ten floors up on a window ledge, whilst Dreyfus (Alan Rickman) hated him and wanted rid of him at all costs. There was a woman in it too, Cameron Diaz, while Tom Courtenay kept popping in and out. But not a bad film.

Gambit follows a man who seeks to get revenge on his employer by messing with his massive, and expensive, art collection. The best part of the movie was the hotel scene. I'm not going to say much more, but it's pretty hilarious, and the whole movie is kind of worth it just for that one scene. The rest of the movie is just fine. The acting is fine, the characters are pretty fun, but not too compelling, and the comedy is only good during the hotel scene really. It's enjoyable but also nothing special. Overall Gambit is a fun movie to watch, but that's about it. In the end I probably wouldn't recommend it.

The sort of crime/comedy capers that starred big names in psychedelic colours and absolutely up to the minute fashions quickly palled only to be briefly resuscitated by Mr P.Bogdanovich in the sublime "What's up,Doc?"which also echoed much earlier works by the great Hollywood directors. Unfortunately,the evidence here is that the Coen Bros do not have the grasp of this broad humour in contrast to their recognised skill with "funny" that sometimes isn't "funny" at all but instead rather "disturbing". So "Gambit" is either a painfully unfunny satire or a wildly over- acted and painfully unfunny "hommage" to the briefly popular international super - productions loaded with stars that scarcely had us rolling in the aisles forty years ago and the survivors of which genre make for embarrassing viewing today. And so it is with this woeful production featuring some very hammy performances by big - name actors who mug desperately and try to look as if it was all terrific fun on the off- chance that such enjoyment might be infectious. Unfortunately for them it isn't. Mr A.Rickman is particularly guilty in this respect,making his Sheriff of Nottingham seem like a masterclass in restraint. Messrs Firth and Courtenay are like the Cannon and Ball of the 21st century. Miss C.Diaz wears a fixed grin like a politician kissing his 20th baby of the day. It is loud,boorish and tedious. Presumably the remuneration was in direct disproportion to the artistic effort displayed. A blip,one hopes,on the Coen's splendid C.V. that hopefully will neither be held against them nor repeated. I urge you not to waste your time on it.