Just Ask for Diamond (1988)
Director: Stephen Bayly
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
This junior private eye spoof on The Maltese Falcon, scripted by Anthony Horowitz from his novel The Falcon's Malteser, soon degenerates into superficial pastiche and becomes increasingly tiresome. Handed a box of Maltesers by a South American dwarf, teenage shamus Tim Diamond (McLinden) is soon out of his depth and forced to rely on his younger, smarter brother Nick (Dale). The Fat Man demands an audience, Inspector Snape (Paterson) and his sadistic assistant (Nail) apply the pressure, and comically inept heavies Gott and Himmell (Eyre and Grace) fall over each other to get their hands on the chocs. Sadly, only York as the drink-sodden romantic Laura Bacardi, and Patricia Hodge as the enigmatic Baroness, leave a lasting impression.Author: NF
Cast & crew
Director: Stephen Bayly
Producer: Linda James
Cast: Susannah York, Colin Dale, Dursley McLinden, Peter Eyre, Nickolas Grace, Patricia Hodge, Saeed Jaffrey, Roy Kinnear, Bill Paterson, Jimmy Nail full cast
Genre(s): Children's
Duration: 94 mins
Most popular on this site
Features
To the letter
Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.
Mind over matter
David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.
Fool's gold
Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.
We are the championed
Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."
A history of violence
Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.
True romantic
James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.
Playing in the dark
MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.
Junk bonds
Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.



What do you think?
Post your review now