Eastern Promises is truly a difficult film for me to critique. On the one hand, I found the story a bit sloppy, some of the dialogue too on-the-nose, and even some scenes and actions totally unjustified in the context of the characters. Half way through the picture, I knew this was nowhere near on par with director David Cronenberg's last film, A History of Violence. And, in the end, I was more than a bit let down. However, I still recommend this movie. Why? Let me try to explain....Viggo Mortensen. I could be very simplistic and just say those two words - and it wouldn't be far from the truth. He is amazing in this film - subtle, charismatic, menacing, cool, thoughtful, cypher. Typically, all at once. Beyond his performance, his character's storyline makes this picture. All of the best parts center around his mysterious Russian "driver" - so much so that it sometimes feels like a different movie entirely! The "A" story - that which sets events in motion and carries through the plot - centers on nurse Naomi Watts, and her search for the truth about the death of a teenage girl. This might have been compelling - while watching the film, I even thought of more than a few ways to make it so - but it comes off as just ho-hum, and occasionally even movie-of-the-week, when compared with the tales of the Russian mob. And, I'm not just talking about the story. The nuances, the dialogue, the subtle clues that add up to something big - all are in top form when we're with the Russians, and Mortensen in particular. As soon as we swing back to Watts and her quest, all is blah.
But, I digress a little. See this movie. You can wait for DVD if you like, but it's definitely worth your time, at the very least for Mortensen's performance.
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