Red Sparrow (C- or 1.5/4 stars)
Jennifer Lawrence stars in 'Red Sparrow', a violent, R-rated spy thriller directed by Francis Lawrence, of The Hunger Game films. J-Law plays Dominika Egorova, the beautiful brunette star ballerina with the Bolshoi Ballet. When not dancing, she takes care of her ailing mom, Nina (Joely Richardson) and, the company pays for her mother's care, as well as the apartment they live in. But when Dominika breaks her leg in a gruesome, career-ending onstage accident, those perks are suddenly in danger. Enter Dominika's stoic Uncle Vanya (Matthias Schoenaerts), a high-ranking Russian intelligence officer who offers her a chance to earn enough $$ to keep her mother afloat by becoming a 'Sparrow': a secret agent who is trained to use sex as a weapon in spy games against major political targets.
So she's sent to a spy training facility led by a harsh, nameless matron (Charlotte Rampling) to learn the ways of seduction. From there, she catches the attention of her uncle's boss, Zakharov (good 'ole Ciaran Hinds), & mysterious General Korchnoi (Jeremy Irons). She's assigned by them to American agent, Nate Nash (Joel Edgerton), who's been working with an unknown Russian mole. Dominika & Nate inevitably fall in love. But double-gents arise, triple-crossings commence, and their relationship gets complicated when she plays both sides of the fence & the plot thickens with the arrival of an American chief of staff (Mary-Louise Parker) who - herself - is trading secrets. Deadly consequences ensue.
'Red Sparrow' bummed me out. I mean, hey, I tend to like spy movies. I figured that Jennifer Lawrence + her usual collaborator (director Francis Lawrence) would give us something solid to watch. But aside from a fantastic opening sequence {a prologue that shows Dominika performing in the Bolshoi Ballet - and - CIA op Nate meeting with an informant when the police arrive; as she breaks her leg at the crescendo of music, we simultaneously watch Nate as a chase ensues with him & the feds}, some polished cinematography, some beautiful costumes that J-Law gets to where, and some nifty hair/make-up changes ....... this movie is a fairly icky, gratuitous slog. It's a flat affair instead of a visceral tale of survival.
I'm all for watching dramas that have NOTHING to do with a comic book origin or a franchise, so this sexy spy thriller seemed right up my alley. All that said, the bursts of violence go a little too far. And the torture scenes felt way too exploitative {gore for gore's sake}. Take away the appeal of J-Law, those costume/hair/make-up changes and the nice camerawork, and the rest of the film is just too airless & dull. Lawrence has a magnetic presence, but her Russian accent goes in & out {when it's good, it's good and, when it's bad, it's terrible} and, while I initially empathized with her character of Dominika, by the midway point, her actions & motivations became increasingly bizarre. And she also exhibits no chemistry with co-Lead Edgerton.
'Red Sparrow' also never generates much tension or suspense. It is 139 languorous minutes in length & moves sluggishly throughout; only broken-up by those aforementioned bursts of action, violence and gore. By the way, much has been made about the amount of nudity in this film; both male and female. To that I say: who cares? It did not bother me in the slightest; but then, nudity never has. Ultimately, 'Red Sparrow' failed to ignite me. I liked the spy school scenes, but they end too quickly. J-Law's character is supposed to have an inner strength & fortitude, but I didn't always see it; she seemed more of a wishy-washy victim of circumstance. And any twists & surprises that occur didn't raise my pulse. This film contains several worthy components, but its too chilly & workmanlike to love.
So she's sent to a spy training facility led by a harsh, nameless matron (Charlotte Rampling) to learn the ways of seduction. From there, she catches the attention of her uncle's boss, Zakharov (good 'ole Ciaran Hinds), & mysterious General Korchnoi (Jeremy Irons). She's assigned by them to American agent, Nate Nash (Joel Edgerton), who's been working with an unknown Russian mole. Dominika & Nate inevitably fall in love. But double-gents arise, triple-crossings commence, and their relationship gets complicated when she plays both sides of the fence & the plot thickens with the arrival of an American chief of staff (Mary-Louise Parker) who - herself - is trading secrets. Deadly consequences ensue.
'Red Sparrow' bummed me out. I mean, hey, I tend to like spy movies. I figured that Jennifer Lawrence + her usual collaborator (director Francis Lawrence) would give us something solid to watch. But aside from a fantastic opening sequence {a prologue that shows Dominika performing in the Bolshoi Ballet - and - CIA op Nate meeting with an informant when the police arrive; as she breaks her leg at the crescendo of music, we simultaneously watch Nate as a chase ensues with him & the feds}, some polished cinematography, some beautiful costumes that J-Law gets to where, and some nifty hair/make-up changes ....... this movie is a fairly icky, gratuitous slog. It's a flat affair instead of a visceral tale of survival.
I'm all for watching dramas that have NOTHING to do with a comic book origin or a franchise, so this sexy spy thriller seemed right up my alley. All that said, the bursts of violence go a little too far. And the torture scenes felt way too exploitative {gore for gore's sake}. Take away the appeal of J-Law, those costume/hair/make-up changes and the nice camerawork, and the rest of the film is just too airless & dull. Lawrence has a magnetic presence, but her Russian accent goes in & out {when it's good, it's good and, when it's bad, it's terrible} and, while I initially empathized with her character of Dominika, by the midway point, her actions & motivations became increasingly bizarre. And she also exhibits no chemistry with co-Lead Edgerton.
'Red Sparrow' also never generates much tension or suspense. It is 139 languorous minutes in length & moves sluggishly throughout; only broken-up by those aforementioned bursts of action, violence and gore. By the way, much has been made about the amount of nudity in this film; both male and female. To that I say: who cares? It did not bother me in the slightest; but then, nudity never has. Ultimately, 'Red Sparrow' failed to ignite me. I liked the spy school scenes, but they end too quickly. J-Law's character is supposed to have an inner strength & fortitude, but I didn't always see it; she seemed more of a wishy-washy victim of circumstance. And any twists & surprises that occur didn't raise my pulse. This film contains several worthy components, but its too chilly & workmanlike to love.