Diamond

Andy Garcia’s Diamond opens with the elaborate morning routine of its titular private investigator, Joe Diamond (Garcia), who straightens his suit, adjusts his pocket square and steps out into Los Angeles looking straight out of a 1940s crime thriller. Then he is nearly run over by a self-driving car, establishing the film’s central conceit more effectively than much of what follows. 

Joe is out of place not only among the glitzy enclaves of Los Angeles but in time itself. He drives a vintage car, insists upon a comical degree of formality and seems to have an extraordinary ability to locate the remaining corners of old LA: diners, bars and a tiny detective’s office in the instantly recognisable Bradbury Building. Garcia clearly relishes these surroundings, recreating a city that seems barely to have moved on from the golden age of Hollywood noir. But the illusion needs more than simply the right scenery and style to sustain it. When Sharon Cobbs (Vicky Krieps), the widow of a wealthy businessman, hires Joe to investigate her husband’s murder, the case offers all the expected ingredients: a suspicious death, a mysterious woman, and an assortment of potentially untrustworthy characters. However, it offers rather less in the way of storytelling. Joe’s reputation as an exceptional detective is mostly asserted rather than demonstrated, while the investigation is mostly a series of disjointed encounters.

Garcia’s performance is enjoyable in its excess. Joe’s measured speech, ceremonious manners and cultivated air of world weariness suggest a man who has rehearsed his personality as carefully as his wardrobe. Yet the film never quite gets beyond the performance itself. What initially feels like a promisingly peculiar character gradually hardens into caricature, with even his supposedly hard-boiled observations sounding too self-conscious to be persuasive.

Krieps faces a similar problem. Her unconventional styling makes Sharon a more intriguing presence than the stereotypical femme fatale, and she plays the part with a pleasing lack of obvious seduction. But the screenplay gives her little to do beyond occupying that familiar role: the enigmatic widow whose husband has died under mysterious circumstances. The supporting cast, including Bill Murray as a bartender and Brendan Fraser as a dirty cop, likewise bring considerable personality to characters barely developed beyond their introductions.

Diamond is a beautifully assembled homage, but for all Garcia’s attention to how a classic noir ought to look and feel, he pays surprisingly little attention to what makes one compelling. The performances, costumes and settings promise something far more interesting than the script delivers.

Christina Yang

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