Gambit (2012)

Literally the worst movie I've ever seen. Godawful.

Perhaps I am mistaken but I thought the basic idea of a comedy was for it to be funny, and in this regard this film failed miserably. Actors going through the motions, (rescued slightly by the performance of Alan Rickman, who was without doubt the best of the bad bunch). The time you spend watching this film you can never have back, my only recommendation would be not to start watching it, and if you have already started to do so then stop immediately. Dull, dull, dull Stereotypical characters, staid 'jokes' and a predicable story. A director and actors may have got away with such a film in the 70s but such a tired formula doesn't need trotting out now. We almost smiled once hence a score better than 3. Avoid.

I really enjoyed this film. I don't understand why it got bad reviews. Some of the backlash is that it was the follow up for Firth to the King's Speech and this is not in the same league. I saw it in the movie theater. I liked it so much that I purchased it on DVD. Firth and Courtney were great together. Diaz and Firth had great chemistry. Stanley Tucci and Alan Rickman were weak links, but it was the script, not the actors. Firth was a good sport being put into humorous humiliating situations that evoke Lucille Ball in I love Lucy. The direction by Michael Hoffman could have been better. Nonetheless Firth, Courtney and Diaz made up for those deficiencies. I say See it.

Gambit is a very poor film with a simple story that is in no way special and a great cast that sadly couldn't save this mess. It had a promising set up and with a cast like Colin Firth, Cameron Diaz and Alan Rickman, it seemed like it could have been a very fun comedy caper, but sadly it did not come close, there's no real element of adventure in it because of just how straight forward the whole story was, we never feel in danger. I am a big fan of the three main actors but they just could not do anything to save this, Colin Firth's characterisation for Harry was great, he clearly put a lot of work in to this role, but sadly he is unlikeable, it's difficult to support him. As for Diaz and Rickman, their characters were simply irritating, with an uneducated supporting female and a villain who is in no way menacing. As a comedy, it's simply not funny, using nudity and sexual innuendos as its main source for laughter, it's very immature for a British comedy, which you would normally expect to be more sophisticated and subtle. Despite an impressive cast, Gambit loses any potential it had with lame comedy and unlikeable characters, I would not recommend it. An art curator wants to seek revenge on his boss, so he hatches a plan in to conning him to buy a fake Monet. Best Performance: Colin Firth