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Plot:
The new thriller reteaming acclaimed director David Cronenberg with his A History of Violence leading man Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises is written by Steve Knight (Academy Award-nominated screenwr...( read more 
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Eastern Promises Recent Reviews
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Recent Reviews
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MCT:November 22, 2008I just can't stop thinking about the scene where Viggo Mortensen where naked. And it is not because I liked it, if you see what I mean. If you like Viggo because of his looks - don't watch this! He looks like Gollum in his naked scene!
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MCT:November 20, 2008An entirely pointless film from Cronenberg and yet another example of a once interesting and experimental director marching towards mainstream mediocrity.
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MCT:November 19, 2008WOW! What a good film!! Viggo Mortensen is extremely good. Why he didn't get an Oscar for his roll in this one, I don't get. The whole psychological atmosphere in the film, the cinematography is really well done.
BRAVO once more, Cronenberg! -
MCT:November 18, 2008I LOVE THIS MOVIE!
It totally shows that whole modern take on Russian Mafia in London, It has that kind of story that really leaves you with something. it has the right amount of violence that doesn't come often but when it does it has impact because it is just in your face.
plus, It has VIGGO MORTENSEN -
MCT:November 18, 2008It is refreshing to see that while Cronenberg's films keep getting more and more mainstream every year (this is surely the first one where he succumbed to the temptation of not only giving the audience an "entry" character , in the guise of Naomi Watts, to identify with but also involved her in a tacked-on half assed romantic subplot) his themes and obsessions (duality, identity, heredity) remain as present and accounted for as ever. "Eastern Promises" is certainly no exception.
Viggo Mortensen, an actor who is very hit ("A History of Violence", "The Prophecy", "GI Jane") or miss (the "Lord of the Rings" films, "Psycho", "Hidalgo") for me absolutely shines in his role as a mid-level Russian mobster and enforcer. His performance is subtle, based on movement, posture, and the use of his eyes. He completely deserved his Oscar nomination and, contrary to the rest of the world, I feel he should have won. Daniel Day Lewis is one of my favorite actors, but to compare his Daniel Plainview to Viggo's Nikolai is to see both ends of the spectrum. Lewis was playing a force of nature (and mimicking John Huston at the same time), while Mortensen plays an individual. Plainview is a lot of sound and fury ultimately signifying not much, while Nikolai is quiet, cerebral. It is a more difficult role to embody, and our man comes through with flying colors.
The same cannot be said of Naomi Watts. Her character was completely unnecessary and is not particularly well played. There is something artificial about her performance here, it feels "acted", not genuine. The supporting actors, many of them cast very much against type, are colorful and range from adequate to eerily effective, but Naomi Watts and her character, who gets far too much screen time, bog the film down.
Much has been made of the "naked" fight, and its certainly effective, but it also feels far more staged, choreographed and self aware than it should be. Viggo is indeed naked through much of it, but he angles himself away from the camera ( either self consciously shielding his frontal nudity or under Cronenberg's direction to avoid an NC-17 rating) several times which breaks the raw, gripping, pseudo-realistic feel of the scene. The way it culminates also stretches credulity (*spoiler* did he REALLY need to crawl over the body of a downed opponent to get out of the sauna? the thing is about 35 feet wide *end of spoiler*) and its predictable result feels Friday the 13th-ish, which in this case is not a complement.
The film is perhaps too unambitious for its own good (a strange thing to type about a David Cronenberg movie) and at times seems content to ride the pre-established genre staples all the way through. There is more to it than what is apparent at surface level, however, and the direction and central performance carry the film all the way through to its cold, elegant (but not nearly as open as reported) final shot.
Comments
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WrellikWposted 100 days ago -
Ranks among Cronebergs best a first rate cast brings you as close to the russian mob as any sensible person would want to get. Deadly realism reminiscent of the Godfather or Casino. A new classic
posted 127 days ago -
this movie is terrible, so boring, so timewasting, adds in quotes which try to sound cool. one dumb movie
posted 130 days ago -
the movie is slow, but is worth watching. the movie has a really good and weird fight at the end. sometimes they speak in russian so you'll need subtitles to understand. viggo was good. naomi acceptable,etc.
posted 168 days ago -
well just seen this last night, was a really good
film, but the ending was awfull, it was like it finished half way through the film!! was not happy at that at all.posted 256 days ago -
I can sympathize with your take on Eastern Promises. That film, along with History of Violence are grossly overrated and far from Cronenberg's best work (Dead Ringers comes to mind).
posted 289 days ago -
Well at first I wasn't sure what to think...but the longer you watch it becomes clear. This is pure story telling, not sugarcoated for Hollywood but an honest look at the russian mafia. I totally recommend this, this was great.
posted 333 days ago -
Waiting for this to come out on dvd!!! Should be AWESOME...Viggo...one of my favorite actors!!!
posted 350 days ago -
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OMG!!!!!! I HAVE TO SEE THIS MOVIE!!!!!
Viggo Mortensen is my favorite actor and i am sure that he will act brilliantly in this movie!!!! I only hope he gets nominaterd for the academy award, mabe this time he will win it, like he deserves!!!! LOVE YOU VIGGO!!!!!!! xox xox xoxposted 432 days ago
