Film Pick of the Week: Masterplan - review by Yvette Huddleston
Masterplan Prime Video, review by Yvette Huddleston
A sophisticated crime caper requires a sophisticated big name star and there are few who fit the bill better than Stanley Tucci. He plays elegantly attired British master thief Roger Cavendish who recruits two successful young pretenders - Italian cybercrime expert Chiara (Simona Tabasco) and French explosives specialist Jay (Victor Belmondo, grandson of legendary French New Wave movie star Jean-Paul Belmondo) to assist him on his latest daring escapade.
Cavendish’s audacious plan is to steal Leonardo Da Vinci’s priceless masterpiece the Mona Lisa from the Louvre in Paris. He entices the two young high net-worth criminals, who have not met each other before, to his palatial home on Lake Como - they think they are breaking in to rob him - and he then tells them about the heist and the huge financial rewards they would reap, should they take it on. He also reveals to them that he is their estranged father, presenting them with the results of DNA tests, so Chiara and Jay are surprised to discover that they are in fact half-siblings.
Initially sceptical about the feasibility of such an ambitious project, the pair are swayed by the generous payment that Roger promises them - and they also relish the challenge of helping him to carry out his masterplan. They duly travel with him to Paris where the three of them hole up in a palatial apartment to fine tune the details of what they are about to do. During that time they also get to know each other better and both youngsters, while wary of Roger, eventually grow quite fond of him.(That is helped by the fact that they learn that he is making plans to leave substantial amounts of money and property to them both in his will). For his part, Roger is movingly open, unusual for a Brit he admits, about how he feels about finding them and regretting the time he hasn’t spent with them in the past.
The trio then set about making preparations - they involve elaborate subterfuge and disguise to put devices in place to override the Louvre’s seemingly impenetrable security system, and to get hold of an essential masterkey. There is a lot of fun to be had here, thanks to slick action set pieces, expertly handled by director Thomas Vincent, high-energy pacing, plenty of plot twists and double-crosses, nice performances from the three protagonists and great use of the photogenic locations including the French capital, Rome and Lake Como.