I’ll keep it short. I only wish screenwriter Justin Haythe (A Cure for Wellness, Revolutionary Road) had. Sandwiched between a gripping opening and a bloody finale, the filling in Haythe’s bloated adaptation of the novel of the same name by former CIA Operative Jason Matthews is so thick that Richard Kiel’s steel-toothed henchman from The Spy Who Loved Me would have difficulty wrapping his jaws around it.

What starts off as a disturbing psychological thriller whereby former ballerina Dominika Egorova (Jennifer Lawrence) is blackmailed into becoming a Russian spy by her creepy uncle Ivan (Matthias Schoenaerts) soon descends into a dreary exercise in style over substance whereby the talented and experienced cast who include Ciaran Hinds and Jeremy Irons try to outdo one another in the pesky Russkie department: vodka-soaked poker faces and unblinking eyes complimented by a slow, deep drawl which would give Barry White a run for his ruble.

But it could have been so different, not to mention better, if the seedy tone and psychological mind games of the opening quarter continued throughout: the gist of which is that Dominika, along with a dozen or so fellow students, is handpicked to undergo training to become a Russian spy on the grounds that her beauty, strength and vulnerability can be used to win the trust of needy informants. Her reward for complying? Healthcare for her ailing mother Nina (Joely Richardson). Her punishment should she refuse? Death.

Along the way, she is asked to perform a number of humiliating and sexually graphic acts on fellow students and criminals, drawing upon everything she was taught at “whore school” by Charlotte Rampling’s chilling Matron. Bodies are disrobed, genitals are exposed and services of a carnal nature are rendered. Not because the lady loves Milk Tray, but in order to “learn how to love on command” so that the necessary information can be extracted from the seducees. But once out of training, the film loses its edge and becomes gratuitous, repetitive and quite frankly boring. Unlike Lawrence and her fellow cast mates, who include Joel Edgerton as an undercover CIA operative, who try their best to keep the Red Sparrow in flight.

Director: Francis Lawrence
Writers: Justin Haythe (screenplay by), Jason Matthews (based upon the book by)
Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Matthias Schoenaerts
Peter Callaghan
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1 Comment

  1. Marie, don”t ignore the not so new technique of tracking” whereby the various temporary mixes of a film in post have pre-existing music added for a general sketchy feel of the likely final version. I understand that it”s the bane of some composers, gets stuck in the director”s brain and makes the musician”s job harder.

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