The Love Punch

A romantic romp spanning London, Paris, and the French Riviera, The Love Punch brings together Pierce Brosnan and Emma Thompson in the latest comic charmer from Joel Hopkins. The English writer-director takes his cues from classic capers like A Fish Called Wanda and Romancing the Stone, but delivers a topical new take on the genre, refreshing the formula of high-stakes adventure and barbed flirtation for our financially constrained times.

Reuniting with Hopkins for the first time since 2008's Last Chance Harvey, Academy Award-winner Thompson plays Kate, whose biting banter with ex-husband Richard (Brosnan) suggests that the embers of their former ardour haven't been fully extinguished. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for their retirement nest egg, which is well and truly wiped out when Richard's investment firm is defrauded and the employee pension fund is siphoned away. Learning that the unscrupulous French financier behind the scheme has just purchased a $10 million diamond for his bride-to-be, the divorced duo grudgingly agree to set aside their differences, and hatch a plot to crash the nuptials and nab the gargantuan rock. Complicating matters is the high-security wedding venue, a cliff-top castle on the Côte d'Azur — a challenge seemingly better suited to Brosnan's erstwhile super-spy alter ego — plus Richard's growing conviction that his split with Kate was a mistake.

It's difficult not to agree — such is the chemistry between Brosnan and Thompson. Both performers tear into Hopkins's repartee with relish, as do seasoned character actors Timothy Spall (The King's Speech) and Celia Imrie (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel), playing a pair of neighbours-turned-conspirators rooting for the estranged couple's reconciliation. Together they form a formidable comedic foursome, while Hopkins handles his graduation to the grand escapade with consummate aplomb.