Diamond, Andy Garcia’s detective story that will bow at the Cannes Film Festival, is a modern-day marvel — a Los Angeles-set film that actually shot in the city.
At a time when headlines decry productions fleeing the city, Diamond, which filmed everywhere from the Bradbury Building to the Paramour Estate, is a reminder of why the city is sorely missed onscreen.
Set in modern-day L.A., the film stars Garcia as the titular gumshoe, Joe Diamond, who is a relic from another time, favoring suits to athleisure and is happily at home on a barstool. When he is hired by a wealthy woman (played by Vicky Krieps) whose husband ends up dead in their hilltop mansion, Diamond investigates the case that also leads him to truths about his own mysterious past. Surrounding Diamond is a group of supporting characters, like a Chinese food-loving coroner (Dustin Hoffman), a glad-handing DA (Brendan Fraser) and sympathetic bartender (Bill Murray).
Ahead of Cannes, Garcia talked to THR about making his modern L.A.-set noir, Bogey’s best films, and how Ocean’s 11 helped him land his co-star.
Noirs have such a long history in Hollywood but are less prominent now. How did the story come about?
