The Movie You Must See Right Now, This Very Minute

“I’m the driver.”-Eastern Promises

Yes, I am going to jump on this train and highly recommend that anybody who has yet to see it immediately see Eastern Promises. You may question why I’m jumping on the bandwagon for this movie so late in the hype season, since it just came out on DVD, but I can answer that with one sentence. I just now started writing a blog devoted to Pop Culture, so this is my first real opportunity to espouse the virtues of this film. That, coupled with the fact that I am guilty of not watching it until today, makes it obvious that I hadn’t had an opportunity to praise this movie to anybody and everybody that will listen until now. So, here goes.

First, a word of warning for anybody who happens to be the least bit squeamish. This movie is violent. Hell, violent doesn’t actually even begin to describe it. This movie is, for lack of a better descriptor, fucking brutal. Now, on first blush, this violence can seem to be a bit gratuitous, that is until one considers the fact that this is a movie that, at its core, is about the Russian Mob. Now, while I have had the good fortune to never have any dealings with that particular group of upstanding citizens, I’m guessing that they are not exactly cuddly little puppy dogs. So, when, in the first few minutes somebody has their throat graphically slit, don’t let that put you off.

Secondly, the movie is graphic in its nudity also. There are prostitutes, and one fight scene that is known all around the internet already. I’ll leave that alone though, because homophobes may disagree, the movie is actually stronger for the plot point that makes that scene occur. I’m trying to avoid spoilers here, so that is all I can say there.

Now, the real reason to watch this film is the performances of three people. First, Viggo Mortensen is amazing as a limo driver/enforcer for the Russian Mob. He does a great accent, capturing the feel of a man who has seen entirely too much in his rough life in Russia. Secondly, Naomi Watts is very good as Anna, a female who is drawn into the world of the Mob by happenstance and coincidence. Absolutely pitch perfect performance on her hand. Thirdly, and finally, Vincent Cassel portrays a repressed, possibly homosexual, Mob prince as well as anybody could hope. The final scene featuring all three of these actors is enough to make the entire movie worthwhile, and that is if everything leading up to it had not been pretty much perfectly done.

The script written by Stephen Knight is pretty much the top level that one could hope for. It is clear that he either has done extensive research into the world of the Russian Mob and their traditions, has been involved in the Mob for years, or is extremely adept about making believable shit up about a secret society like the Russian Mafia. I’m guessing it is a combination of the first and third things, though I wouldn’t put the second possibility past him. The movie is, for the most part, unsentimental in the way it portrays these brutal killers, so who knows where the information came from.

Finally, the fact that David Cronenberg helms this one definitely makes it worth a look. If anybody hasn’t seen the last film in which Mortensen and Cronenberg worked together, A History of Violence, then it is the other movie that you absolutely must see right after this one. I’ve reached a point in Cronenberg’s career that I will watch anything he puts out, as he has yet to dissapoint.

Anyways, that is what I have to say. Go, watch the movie, stop reading this.