Eastern Promises

David Cronenberg follows up his excellent film A History of Violence with the similarly toned Eastern Promises, another entry into his new trend of making movies that are less graphically-violent and are not as strange and surreal as his typical work. This film is not as good as the one that preceded it, but it is good nonetheless. It is a dark film and is quite unpleasant at times, but it's not disturbingly so as some of Cronenberg's work can be. Viggo Mortensen is wonderful in the lead role as Nikolai, a member of the Russian mob who's life is violently entangled with that of Anna, played by Naomi Watts.In my opinion She overacts, which wouldn't be nearly as damaging to the film if Mortensen didn't perform his role with such brilliant subtlety. Armin Mueller-Stahl, an incredibly consistent actor, is great as Viggo's superior. Vincent Cassel does very well as his son. The fight scene in the bathhouse is one of the greatest I have ever seen in a film. On the other hand, there is a twist near the end that completely ruined the experience for me. I won't reveal it now, but I feel the film would have been far more effective without it. So, the film does have its share of flaws. That being said, it is worth seeing once just to witness Viggo's performance. I recommend the film with some reservations and suggest that Steven Knight, who wrote this film and Dirty Pretty Things, should focus more on plot next time. He's great at characters. As for Cronenberg, I like the new direction he has taken with his work, and I hope he continues in this style.