Diamond Men

Diamond Men: (2001) This is a small movie, that is, there are no car chases, no fights, no artificial tension builders or expensive explosions. It’s just a plain old good movie built around interesting characters, a slowly building plotline, and an ending that may surprise you. The cast is excellent across the board with Robert Forster, Donnie Wahlberg, Bess Armstrong, and Jasmine Guy (ex Cosby show) in the lead roles. The story has been done before; retiring salesman breaks in the young replacement, they start out not liking each other and eventually they learn to become buddies. But this is done well and the buddy relationship isn’t quite like the traditional B-movie relationships. The two have many adventures selling diamonds, meeting easy women, and an occasional crook or two. It takes place entirely in Pennsylvania with much of it apparently shot on location. The best line went to Robert Forster admonishing Wahlberg’s character for hitting on a counter girl at a jewelry store, “You were drooling on the owner’s daughter!” A quiet, character driven film, this is an excellent rent. The DVD has only 3 deleted scenes as extras and a director’s commentary track. The movie is rated R for: several cuss words, brief orbulation, an eye catching tattoo, brief violence, lack of tweezers skills, young hookers, old jewelers, and for the Altoona Riding Club.