This is by far one of my favorite little films, & just yesterday I bought it on DVD for a mere pittance ($6 & change)& settled in happily to enjoy it again. Only once in a blue moon does it turn up on artsy/independent film-type channels, so don't hold your breath looking for it on TV.

Everyone in this film is perfectly cast, & what makes it come together so beautifully is that each character in this piece exhibits faults & foibles, as we all do. It's so refreshing to watch something entertaining where the characters are portrayed as "real" - albeit flawed - people. In addition, the jazz musical score throughout the film fits the mood like a glove.

My favorite not-to-be-missed extremely funny scene? John Malkovich's "Jake", in a moment of depressed exasperation, talking aloud to himself composing his own obituary. I laugh every time I hear it - his delivery is perfect. Another favorite scene, very poignant, is when Mr. Malkovich's "Jake" phones his parents, after an apparently long absence, with the apparent intention of requesting monetary assistance. From the one-sided conversation you hear, you get an automatic insight into "Jake"'s upbringing, & perhaps why he's taken the path he has. Even though short, it's an extremely moving & insightful scene.

This movie is definitely worth renting if you can find it - but for the money, it's also worth adding to one's permanent DVD collection.

The object in question is a pint-sized Henry Moore statuette, owned by shallow sophisticate Andie McDowell and appraised at $35,000, an amount in many ways even more beautiful to its owner than the item itself. Especially when McDowell and her 'husband' (played to haughty perfection by John Malkovich) find themselves at a fiscal disadvantage while living beyond their means in a posh London hotel. In the vernacular of the upwardly mobile, they aren't 'fluid', and when the statuette disappears they immediately accuse each other of plotting to collect the insurance value. The film is an underhanded, cynical, satirical poke at American materialism, pointless in the end because nothing is resolved. But the plot itself is secondary to the characters (ugly though they are),and rarely have two actors been better suited to their roles: McDowell's poor little rich girl routine is by now second nature, and Malkovich captures all the self-absorbed boredom of the ersatz upper class with his languid voice and steady reptilian gaze.

It is difficult for me to comprehend why there is only one viewer comment for this film, or why it is rated under a six. If an excellent film is about entertainment, intelligence, great acting and a terrific story with a treasury of clever humor that expounds the deeper meaning of a good relationship between a man and a woman over wealth and selfishly egotistical success, then this is a standout film that achieves a richness of artistic accomplishment that very few films do. No one truly sees the beauty of the bronze statue except the lowly and weathered housekeeper, a financially struggling mute, unable to express the profound feelings that are moving within her in words, but Rudi Davies sure gets it across with her expression and eyes. I had to drive 30 miles to the Cedar Lee Theater, Cleveland's only real art house, during it's original release, but after the film was over I realized it would have been worthwhile if I would have had to walk...some films are just that special