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Let me just start off by saying that this movie was really really awesome.  Viggo Mortensen was fuckin' awesome.  David Cronenberg (the director) was fuckin awesome.  Blah blah blah SERIOUSLY THIS SHIT WAS REALLY GOOD but that's not what this topic is about.

Actually I should clarify.  This movie was really really good... until the end!  GOD DAMNIT URRGH.

Basically you had this cool story about a member of the russian mafia who's a total badass even though he's just a lowly driver, and you got Naomi Watts who comes in the middle of all this shit and the driver shows sympathy for her and yeah.  Basically Viggo Mortensen is a badass mafia dude... with a heart.  I'm pretty sure I just made this movie sound awful but it doesn't matter because you've seen it so you know what I'm talking about.

There was a potentially really interesting story there!  But then, whoops, turns out he was an undercover Russian cop.  Instead of having this mafia guy trying to balance morals and ruthlessness, he's just sympathetic to Naomi Watts 'cause HE'S SECRETLY A GOOD GUY.  Zzzz.  Fuck that man, that's too easy.  What had started out as a really really great movie ended as a pretty average HEH THAT MOVIE WAS KIND OF FUN movie.  I mean, the ending was like that at least; the rest of it up until then was really really good (always gotta so really twice)

One good thing about the twist was that it was at least completely unexpected.  Maybe I was just off my game tonight but I feel like I'm usually pretty good at calling a twist even if the movie does a good job of hiding it.  This seems like the type of twist that I would have normally caught but I didn't think about it at all and I was legitimately surprised by which I haven't been in a long time.

And yeah overall it was a really good movie.  David Cronenberg's a pretty cool guy.  I also rented Scanners tonight which I hear is cool but not really that great but I also hear someone's head explodes so whoop.

darkjak rating:  8.3/10

ps: speaking of Cronenberg I really liked Videodrome a lot.  Uh.  Just thought I would let you know.

Viggo Mortensen had really blown me away with this. I had never seen Viggo not be so... Viggo. His whole character was so slick and cool to watch and yeah, the first two out of three acts of the movie were very, very good, whereas the third just seemed to dilute it. Funny thing is, I don't think I minded as much as I thought I would have. Because I was still wondering how come the body washed up right on the beach for the entire police force to see when he said it would just sink.

Armin Mueller-Stahl and Vincent Cassel gave really good performances also, as Semyon (the old dude) and his son. In fact, I found it rather shitty how Armin Mueller-Stahl got next to no recognition for his role, because he really managed to be charming for me in some scenes and really managed to be scary in others.

Also, UK gun laws must be strict or something because I didn't see any of the gangsters carrying guns. They carried knives instead. I thought this was cool because it made everything seem more personal. To kill someone, you gotta hold them down yourself and slit their throat.

this movie was awesome. like roman said i totally did not see that twist coming.

the ending was kind of lame though! it ended so unexpectedly. i was expecting idk something else after the baby stuff was finished but idk!

also yes the naked fight scene in the bathhouse was really awesome.

I only saw this one recently, about a week and a half ago or so. I did see the twist coming, but almost overlooked it at first. My initial response was similar to when I watched "War"..the old "I know where they're going with this, but...that is too predictable, no, they wouldn't do it...uh, okay, they did." I had a suspicion at first he was either in law enforcement, a rival syndicate, or personally involved with someone Semyon or his son had ordered a hit on. These fell away pretty quickly leaving me with the cop angle. So, the reveal came not as "oh, that was totally unexpected" but "yup, mmm hmm, precisely."

The ending did partially spoil the film though, feeling a bit too forced. This wasn't a story about happy endings, it was a story about betrayal and brutality.

also i was a bit unclear: was semyon's son gay or was he a pedophile??

also i was a bit unclear: was semyon's son gay or was he a pedophile??

Yeah, I wasn't too sure about that either.  The movie hinted at both but never made it clear, although I think that was done on purpose.

I loved this movie so much. Yeah, I didn't like the part with the baby but I loved everything else. Especially that final shot where Viggo sits in the chair. Loved the cast, looking the cinematography, I loved that movie to death man. I'm a sucker for these kind of gritty "philosophical" gangster films.

I saw the topic title and decided to download and watch the movie without reading anything about it. But then when I saw Viggo for the first time I realized that it was the movie he was nominated for and that I actually knew a whole lot about it.

Anyway, like everyone else said, it was pretty awesome except for the end. Off the top of my head I can't think of any other movie I've seen that's so graphic.

I saw the topic title and decided to download and watch the movie without reading anything about it. But then when I saw Viggo for the first time I realized that it was the movie he was nominated for and that I actually knew a whole lot about it.

Anyway, like everyone else said, it was pretty awesome except for the end. Off the top of my head I can't think of any other movie I've seen that's so graphic.

David Cronenberg's known for having pretty graphic violence in his movies.  I've only seen this, A History of Violence, and Videodrome (and I'm going to watch Scanners later tonight) but they were all pretty gruesome, especially Videodrome.  Go see Videodrome because it rules.

cally violent?

I really think the throat slitting scene was the worst bit for me. There was something really brutal about it.

Yeah, for sure. Both throat slitting scenes were pretty gruesome. And the finger cutting.

David Cronenberg's known for having pretty graphic violence in his movies.  I've only seen this, A History of Violence, and Videodrome (and I'm going to watch Scanners later tonight) but they were all pretty gruesome, especially Videodrome.  Go see Videodrome because it rules.

Oh, it's the same guy that did History of Violence? That's cool. I'm reading up on Videodrome now and it looks pretty crazy. Definitely gonna check that out.

* Crash (1996)

* Crash (1996)

Thank you.

Haven't seen that one but it's the better one regardless.

Sorry, when I say Crash just assume you all knew what I was talking about in the CRONENBERG topic.

Scar Tissue.

I did know what you were talking about but it could still be misleading to some people!