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Not A Diamond ...But Not The Rough, Either

B. Merritt | WWW.FILMREVIEWSTEW.COM, Pacific Grove, California | 03/06/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I have a certain affection for indie films. Occasionally you'll find a diamond amongst the rough, and I was hoping to find something similar in FAKERS. Although I didn't find a gem, there were some shining moments that made it worthwhile.

Matthew Rhys plays down-on-his-luck Nick Edwards, a man with a cash-flow problem. He needs $50,000 to pay off a debt he owes to a rather dubious London gangster boss played by Art Malik (the terrorist from True Lies). Nick's time on Earth appears to be drawing to a close, as he sees no way to make that amount of money in the necessary time-frame (one week). But then he stumbles across a sketch by a famous early 20th century artist and his mind begins to work through his problems. Not worth enough to cover his debt, he devises a scheme to make multiple copies of the sketch and sell it to several local galleries on the same day.

Kate Ashfield (Shaun of the Dead) plays love interest Eve Evans, a hardworking bartender who's love of money may overshadow her affections for Nick. She decides to help Nick with his problem ...but only if she can benefit, too.

Tom Chambers plays Eve's brother, Tony, the sketch artist who will make the forgeries. An introspective and talented artist in his own right, he eventually learns how gifted he truly is as the film comes to its climax.

The acting was great. This was the shining portion of what could have been a rare gem. All of the characters were quirky, misguided, and fun to watch. The dialogue was equally entertaining as we watch Nick verbally joust with the London boss ("I spend most of my time in the company of intelligent people so when you come round it's a real change.")

The script was a hodge-podge of too many storylines trying to connect too man characters. The multiple introduction of several gallery owners as prime players toward the end of the film lent a serious lopsidedness to the finale. The ending itself seemed to indicate more to come but was cut short without resolution, which made it very frustrating.

As a whole the film was an okay picture, but it needed some polishing to make it truly shine."