Private art curator Harry Deane devises a finely-crafted scheme to con England’s richest man and avid art collector, Lionel Shabandar, into purchasing a fake Monet painting. In order to bait his buyer, he recruits a Texas rodeo queen to cross the pond and pose as a woman whose grandfather liberated the painting at the end of WWII.
I must say that it’s a good thing that the screenwriters for Gambit – the ever-awesome Coen bros. – are mentioned in this first trailer for the film, because were it not for their inclusion, I probably wouldn’t have any reason to see this movie. Sure, I love me some snarky Alan Rickman, but Cameron Diaz’s accent is terrible, the voiceover is godawful, the editing and soundtrack make it look like the most generic caper flick ever filmed, and, from what I can tell, a good chunk of the humour seems to come from men not wearing pants. Seriously, in the span of two minutes, the trailer has shown us that not one, but both of the male leads lose their trousers in service of gags. I dunno, Coens. I’d think you were better than this.
Gambit hits UK theatres on November 21, 2012, and will probably come out in North America sometime in 2013.