This frisky scrap of frippery from first-time director Richard Janes tries to pull off one big blag: to pass off rascal charm, poise and patter as scam-movie smarts. Unfortunately for him, you can see right through it. Sure, Matthew Rhys is convincing enough as Nick, a no-goodster with a habit of getting himself roughed up, who needs £50,000 to placate a local gangster. Thing is, the no-bullshit barmaid down at his local boozer (Kate Ashfield) has a brother (Tom Chambers) who is a natural-born artist - - and Nick has a genuine lost Faccini (a 16th-century painter if you must know) for him to forge and flog...
So far, so what, you're asking yourself. The script puts only the sketchiest effort into making Nick's daring swindle swing and although Rhys makes a decent rogue-ish lead, the lack of attention paid to the film's fine points makes it feel oddly perfunctory. It's directed at a fair nip, but only because Janes is pulling a fast one. Look closer and there's actually nothing there.
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