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'Red Sparrow' tries to soar high
A Russian prima ballerina turns into a secret service agent with a mission of deceiving a CIA agent.
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Jennifer Lawrence in 'Red Sparrow'. (24th Century Fox/-)
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n Red Sparrow directed by Francis Lawrence, Jennifer Lawrence stars as Dominika Egorova, a prima ballerina whose career is cut short after an on-stage injury. With a sick mother whose treatment is no longer paid for by the Bolshoi Ballet, she turns to her uncle (Matthias Schoenaerts) who works in Russia’s foreign intelligence service for help.
Dominika turns into an agent through tough training at State School 4. She is shaped under the guidance of an icy headmistress played brilliantly by Charlotte Rampling. “Your body belongs to the state,” says Rampling, as she teaches sexual manipulation techniques to make the enemy submit.
Her first duty is to reveal the identity of a mole in the Russian government with CIA Agent Nate Nash (Joel Edgerton). The two agents are taken to an uncertain territory of who’s tricking who, with Dominika’s allegiance remaining uncertain until the very last moment.
It is an old-school spy thriller set in modern times. The use of technology and action scenes are dismissed for a lot of dialogue and violence acts, sometimes graphic.
Read also: 'Kingsman: The Golden Circle': Star-studded cast, bigger action
Viewers familiar with The Americans would find the suspense and moral duality achieve greater heights in the television series. Though Lawrence displays nothing short of good acting throughout the film, the story is still not solid enough. There’s a feeling that the filmmakers are trying to tell a story about a female agent in a world where men are writing her fate. Eventually, there’s nothing much that trails viewers after the film ends, except for the haunting violence and the distant sadness ever present in Dominika’s eyes.
Along with Lawrence and Rampling, talents such as Jeremy Irons and Mary Louise Parker meant the experience was constantly thrilling. The cinematic beauty of Dominika’s retro apartment in Moscow or the hollowness of old European streets and buildings adds to the eye-pleasing factor of the film.
The 139-minute duration did feel a bit long, with too many torture scenes and a twist probably not all that surprising.
