Political intrigue

Red Sparrow

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Matthias Schoenaerts

Director: Francis Lawrence

Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Rating: PG-18

RUNTIME: 140 Mins

After seeing what Jennifer Lawrence is capable of, one might think that anything she touches would turn to gold, including this adult Cold War-worthy spy thriller. Whilst it may not be worth its weight in said gold, it still manages a faint glitter every now and then.

The premise is very much a throwback to the era of suspicion and a touch to today’s East-West political tension, with secret agents hiding around corners, a lot of uniformed officials talking in cryptic code, and inner battles between the self and the State.

Following a serious injury, prima ballerina Dominika Egorova (Jennifer Lawrence) is recruited to ‘Sparrow School,’ a Russian intelligence service where she is forced to use her body as a weapon. Her first mission, targeting a CIA agent (Joel Edgerton), threatens to unravel the security of both nations.

Dominika exhibits a unique knack for her new line of work, and soon finds herself embroiled in perhaps the greatest and most covert power struggle of the 20th Century.

All she wants is protection and medical care for her mother, but she may be forced to unimaginable lengths to secure it.

This might be a really engrossing motivation if it didn’t seem to come from very flimsy foundations. Dominika is clearly close with her mother, but as is often the case throughout the story, the catalyst for her joining the Russian intelligence service isn’t as convincing as the film seems to think.

Jennifer Lawrence does bring depth to her character, one of the more serious and provocative roles of her career so far. Lawrence plays a huge spectrum as Dominika, vulnerable and forceful, naive and cunning. Her personality growth is one of the few sincere pleasures of the story.

Matthias Schoenaerts, who plays Dominika’s uncle, Vanya Egorov, manages to keep up with Lawrence’s acting pace with his knowing, Hannibal-like gaze.

On the other hand, Joel Edgerton’s portrayal of Nate Nash, the blandly-named and blandly-written American CIA agent, is a systematic plateau. If while watching a film you get the overwhelming feeling that almost anyone else could play a particular role, that doesn’t speak volumes for that actor.

This could be applied to many of the characters, however. The writing of this movie is fooling itself if it thinks it’s overly ambitious or compelling.

That being said, it still manages to tease a few jolts along the way. Moments of true intrigue are few and far between, but when they happen they keep you invested. Perhaps a huge detriment to the film is its runtime.

It seems to be a new trend in Hollywood films that in order to tell a story, its producers have to tease it out to absolute completion.

If the result of that is overly-long dramas, then it’s not achieving the same kind of suspense. Anytime you feel tension during this film, it almost instantly dissipates, like it’s too scared to really go for it and force you to watch and wait.

The overwhelming length of the film was greatly aided by the fact that I watched it at ThEATre by Rhodes, a new experience now open at The Avenues Bahrain, which includes VIP seating and fine fare served up too, giving a new meaning to ‘dinner and a movie.’

This is a difficult film to deliver a decisive opinion on or popcorn score. It’s unexpectedly barbed, which increases its appeal but emphasises its imperfections, and it lacks the conviction to be truly provocative.

Yet, there is still something enthralling about it. The vast, cold, snowy expanses of Russia, the Cold War-esque vibes, the words unsaid. What it needed was a jolt of electricity to wake it up to its potential. All it lacked was a nerve agent plot … but that’s perhaps one for the future?

Now showing in: Cineco, Seef II, Dana Cinemas, Wadi Al Sail, Mukta A2, Al Jazeera

Anna’s verdict: 3/5