Eastern Promises movie review....

I happened to be rewatching this one the other day. Hollywood has always been dispensing a steady diet of mafioso flicks. Nothing could capture better, the underlying romance in organized crime syndicates, than Mario Puzo's 'The Godfather', which was brought to screen by Coppola. Almost every single film centered around the mafia, The Untouchables, American Gangster, Donnie Brasco, Hoodlums etc, have worked one way or the other. In line with this, Eastern Promises is no exception.

We have an excellent cast in this one, most of them being no strangers to us. Viggo Mortensen, Vincent Cassell and Naomi Watts hold the reins here, and their performance could be said to be exceptional, that in itself being an understatement. The La Cosa Nostra has been finally passed over for the more infamous, Vory v Zakhone (Thieves in Law), the Russian mafia known for its extremely brutual terror tactics and a lack of enforcement of control and discipline within its hierachy. So we have an array of characters thrown here into the mix. A midwife, her mom and her alcoholic Russki uncle, a old soup-chef doubling up as a mafia goombah, his alcoholic over-the-top son, a mysterious car driver who established his cold, reptillian nature early, a coupla Chechens thrown into the mix as gunpowder fodder and a baby that only has a diary left behind by its late mother as any reference to its origins. A diary that could seriously jeopardize some who seek no compromises of any sort, be it personal or situational. And digging too deep could get u seriously hurt or killed.....

The movie is tightly paced and rides on a high from the onset, so make sure u pay close attention to this one. Look out for the scene in the Russian bathhouse. You'd know which when you see the movie, the grittiness of it all staring at u hard. Some aspects of how the Russian mafia operates beyond its home borders, in places such as London, are shown clearly in this. It has some pretty strong sexual themes, so think twice before you decide to watch it with kid brother....

Mortensen in particular, excels as the ice-cold bloodless Nikolai Luzhin. None comes any close, even Depp's performance as Joseph Pistone/Donald Brasco in Donnie Brasco. Both films in a way, have slightly similiar themes and comparisons between both are inevitable. But its safe to say that if u liked Donnie Brasco, u'd definitely dig this.

Eastern Promises has certainly lived up to its promise. That it would deliver, and it certainly did so.

*peace*