"Smuggling in Suburbia" is a stylish thriller with a clever screenplay and a well-developed set of characters.
Young Joanie Whittaker gets linked up with a unique operation of smuggling illegal "blue" diamonds. She works as a "mule" in taking the diamonds through airport security in the delicate lenses of cameras. Her motivation is to earn enough money to pay for an operation for her kid brother Peter, who needs the transplant of a new small intestine.
Danny is the dirty dealer and thug for whom Joanie works. In the course of her transactions, she falls in love with Tucker, Danny's partner in New York. Joanie's mother, Georgia Whittaker, is the super control freak, who gets wise to her daughter's secret life and unwittingly does more harm than good.
The filmmakers were successful in incorporating levity in the far-fetched scenario of the diamond smuggling. Georgia has one of the best lines in the film when she gives her daughter the following advice about her new, criminal boyfriend: "Love makes you stupid. I have a Masters Degree in falling for the wrong guy." After arguing with Joanie and learning about the hundreds of thousands of dollars the daughter has earned, the mom then asks, "Are they still hiring?"
The young senior at Lexington High, who aspires to study architecture at M.I.T. was cool as a cucumber in her interactions with airport security and her maniacal boss, Danny. The action was lively with the helicopter mom Georgia and the sassy younger brother Peter. One senses that Joanie has a great career ahead of her as an architect...or any other lucrative endeavor she chooses to pursue.
