Quicksand

France / UK / Germany, 2003. Directed by John Mackenzie. Michael Keaton, Michael Caine, Judith Godrèche, Matthew Marsh, Rade Serbedzija, Xander Berkeley.

Michael Keaton here plays a stiff, fastidious bank investigator who unwittingly gets himself embroiled in criminal activities when he is sent to the South of France to look into some dodgy money movement. “Criminal activities” includes money laundering, corrupt cops, human trafficking, the Russian mafia, assassination, family kidnapping etc., etc., none of it very original. He uncovers a film company being used as a front for the villains and meets a has-been actor unwittingly working for them (Michael Caine). He forms an alliance with a female executive of the company (Judith Godrèche), the film’s would-be femme fatale. He is set up and framed for a murder he didn’t commit and spends much of the movie on the run, dodging both the cops and the villains as he doesn’t know who to trust. Finally his daughter is kidnapped, leading to the film’s climax. Does any of this sound familiar? With the two Michaels headlining I had certainly hoped for more from this film. But the plot is hopelessly contrived and Keaton didn’t convince me as the fussy bank investigator in the opening sequences, which made his transformation into action hero less believable. Michael Caine has often said in interviews that one of the first things he looks for when offered a script is its location, and I venture to suggest that was his prime motivator here. As the washed-up actor he gives us a performance which is almost a parody of himself – watching it I was reminded of his Spitting Image puppet from years ago, lounging around with a big fat cigar, pointing to a spot in his garden and instructing Bob Hoskins (with wheelbarrow full of cash) to “put the money over there, Bob”. As the female lead Judith Godrèche looks good but that’s about it. It seems a shame that the film’s director should be John Mackenzie, who made The Long Good Friday. I understand the movie failed to get a theatrical release but went straight to DVD – I can’t really say I’m surprised.