Eastern Promises

Review By: Michael Dance
michaelmdance@gmail.com

In just a few months, as critics compile their Best-of-2007 lists, you'll start hearing about how '07 was such a horrible, wretched year for movies. It's inevitable; they say this whether or not it was a good year or a bad year. And hey, it's understandable; lots of bad movies get made in any year, and since top-tier professional critics have to see almost all of them, they get a bit jaded.

But this year, so far, has been awesome.

Some close friends of mine often make fun of me for liking too many movies. Of course I like too many movies; I'm trying to make a career out of loving movies in general. But this year it seems like there have been a dozen or so really strong standouts. The hypnotizing Zodiac was way back in March, and more recently we've gotten two revolutionary comedies from Judd Apatow, two rock-solid Westerns, the franchise-best The Bourne Ultimatum, and the spectacular Into the Wild. Even some of the flops - Sunshine, I'm looking at you in particular - have been great.

And now here we have Eastern Promises a film with awards-season buzz that does not whatsoever disappoint. Marking the second collaboration between star Viggo Mortensen and director David Cronenberg, the story is simple, well-done genre fare - a Mob movie - elevated by some great performances and Cronenberg's strange ability to elevate violence and gore into art.

To be honest, I went into the film not knowing what a Russian mob movie set in London could do for me; I loved the cast, which also includes Naomi Watts, Vincent Cassel, and Armin Mueller-Stahl, but the film didn't seem to have as clear a hook as Cronenberg's 2006 film A History of Violence, and the title and subject matter seemed too opaque. But as soon as it started, I was drawn in, helplessly and happily manipulated by filmmakers spinning a great story.

Watts plays Anna, a hospital midwife who one night delivers a baby from a Russian prostitute who dies during the birth. Aside from the child, she leaves behind a diary, which leads Anna to a popular Russian restaurant owned by Semyon (Mueller-Stahl). Anna wants to find out where the mother came from in hopes that the baby won't have to get put into the London foster system, but Semyon doesn't seem to know anything. Until Anna mentions she has the diary.

Semyon is a boss in the Russian mafia, owning the restaurant as a legal front for his operations. He has a weak, rebellious son, Kirill (Cassel), who is kept in check by Nikolai (Mortensen), his driver and friend, who's trying to work his way up through the mob.

Anna is our entry point into this world; the film is much more interested in the dynamics of Semyon, Kirill, and Nikolai, who is the true main ...