With a talented cast (Peter O'Toole was my main reason for seeing this and it was interesting how his final film and role would fare) and with such a good idea for the story, there was an at least decent film somewhere in 'Diamond Cartel'.
An at least decent film that never comes out. 'Diamond Cartel' could have been far better. No, scratch that, it should have been far better. It could have been a diamond in the rough, it would not have mattered so much if it was not quite a gem considering the budget, but it fails to even be that and it completely fails to sparkle.
Lets start with the few good things, being a fair (or try to be) reviewer who tries to see the good things in bad films. The photography and production design are not bad at all, looking generally colourful and slick. Armand Assante also attacks his role with enthusiasm, he is the actor who tries the hardest, is the least poorly used of the actors and is definitely the actor who comes off best.
Regarding Assante though, it is clear that doing something with what he was given was not easy for him in having to work with such limp and unnatural sounding writing, too many far-fetched and on the wrong side of odd moments and an insipidly written character. In his favour, as said, he was clearly giving it a go and he was not completely wasted.
That cannot be said for everybody else, with the rest of the cast looking uncomfortable and miserable in roles that are far too limited in writing and screen time. This is including Don Wilson and Bolo Yeung, have not seen in a while a film that wastes its cast like 'Diamond Cartel' does. It also has to be down there with the worst final films for any talented actor there is, Peter O'Toole deserved much better than this. There were talented actors that went out on career lows but still managed to be the best thing about the film in question (even the only good thing), Boris Karloff comes to mind. O'Toole was nowhere near close to being as lucky, didn't see the need for his involvement with his role being little more than a useless cameo with embarrassing dubbing that robs him of his distinctive speaking voice. The less said about Michael Madsen's phoning in the better.
The dubbing as an overall whole, as has been said before in previous reviews, is terrible to the point of unintentional comedy. It certainly affects the dialogue, what was already a limp and cheesy script has those factors plus the strangeness and stilted-ness multiplied to the maximum. It also makes it difficult to take any of the characters seriously, a big problem when they were not interesting or likeable in the first place with insultingly stupid character behaviours.
Moreover, the story never comes to life and is far too bizarre and far-fetched. The climax is far from spectacular, it was actually ridiculous beyond belief and not buyable or thrilling for a second. The action is clumsy and very deja vu, complete with confused editing at times. The effects are less than special as well, their slapdash look sticking out like a sore thumb.
In summary, a long way from sparkling or a gem. 2/10 Bethany Cox
