Love Punch (2013)
Certified: 12A
Duration: 95 minutes
Directed by: Joel Hopkins
Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Emma Thompson, Timothy Spall, Tuppence Middleton, Celia Imrie, Marisa Berenson, Louise Bourgoin, Laurent Lafitte, Patrice Cols, Jordan Jones
KRS release

Love Punch is an almost Brit version of the Ocean’s Eleven comedy crime caper. The film brings together four actors considered as royalty in British film-making, with only Helen Mirren and Judi Dench missing this roll call.

Bringing together Pierce Brosnan, Emma Thompson, Celia Imrie and Timothy Spall and giving them free reign on screen gives Love Punch a very sweet and, at times, over-the-top attitude, that is in itself the main draw of the film.

Thompson and Brosnan are Kate and Richard, a couple who has been divorced for many years. He has an investment firm and she lives off spousal maintenance and is well off. That is until, just prior to Richard’s retirement, his company gets gutted by a shady French businessman (Laurent Lafitte) and he ends up with zilch and, consequently, so does she.

Thus the two concoct revenge on the French guy. They travel to Paris, gatecrash his wedding and steal a diamond that is immensely valuable and which would restore their pension fund. They call in their friends Penelope and Jeremy (Imrie and Spall) for help; Jeremy is an ex-serviceman but she is just plain nuts.

Seeing these four in scuba-diving gear and going off on a James Bond-style mission is as incongruous as much as it is laugh-out-loud material.

Here the cast look both silly and charming

The film is, in fact, a mix of star power, screwball funny situations and mature romantic comedy as it is obvious that, once they are in Paris, the love sparks will fly.

The shift to the French Riviera brings to the film a sunny and relaxed disposition that plays along quite well to the charm of the main actors.

Brosnan is simply playing himself as a rogue – a role he has been playing for ages and which has become his screen trademark. On the other hand, Thompson plays the flustered woman as only she knows how. The two are fun in the comedy section and relaxed in the romance side.

The real gags are to be found in the bringing together of Imrie and Spall as they tap into something really funny and genuine between them, making their scenes really hilarious.

The film also marks a difference in the way British and Hollywood cinema look at both ageing stars and comedy in itself. Here the cast look both silly and charming, while very often, in Hollywood, characters play silly and offensive.

All in all, Love Punch is aimed to please all those who want to see this starry cast simply go bananas.