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Article: MAKING GOOD ON `PROMISES'; David Cronenberg and Viggo Mortensen team up to give us a violent, thrilling look at the Russian mob.(SCENE)(Movie review)
- Article from:
- Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
- Article date:
- September 21, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Star Tribune Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Colin Covert; Staff Writer
The relentlessly intelligent, stunningly violent "Eastern Promises" unfolds in London neighborhoods controlled by Russian crime families trafficking in drugs, sex and murder. It's an illicit subculture of hard, silent men like Nikolai (Viggo Mortensen), a stoical driver and fixer whose prison tattoos reflect a brutal criminal career. The film is suitably devious, surrendering its secrets gradually, like Russian nesting dolls whose exteriors, pulled apart, reveal different figures inside.
Shifting identities have been a central theme in David Cronenberg's films, and here, re-teamed with his star from 2005's "A History ...