Lots to unwrap with Francis Lawrence’s (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, I Am Legend) ambitious spy thriller Red Sparrow, a 2018 early summer release that flew, mostly, under the radar domestically ($46 million) but excelled internationally ($150 million). Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle) is, as of 2018, probably the actress who can command the most money per movie. If not number one, she’s pretty darn close. But, obviously, that doesn’t mean that every movie she does will earn her an Oscar nomination or earn $100 million. And she’s not exactly choosy. Since bursting onto the scene with 2010’s Winter’s Bone, the first of her four Oscar nominations and one of the best breakout performances in the last 25 years, Lawrence has gone on to star in more than 15 movies before the release of Red Sparrow. And while she can excel at portraying various characters, a Russian spy will not go down as one of her Top 10 performances of all time. It’s not that she was bad as Dominika Egorova, a Russian ballet dancer who is more or less forced into the life of being an undercover operative after a terrible leg injury ruins her dancing career and leaves her needing money to pay for her mother’s medical expenses.
I don’t even know that this is a movie that I would normally review. I hardly even remember when it came out in the theatre. But most of the movies I’ve been reviewing lately have been movies that I’ve really enjoyed. And it’s not that I didn’t enjoy Red Sparrow. It’s just that it’s not going to be a film that I add to my collection anytime soon. It was also a pretty difficult movie to follow. I actually think that a majority of the spy movies that come out these days are a little hard to follow. I think part of that is my unfamiliarity of how spies operate, spy terminology, etc., as well as each successive spy movie feeling the need to one-up its predecessors and offer something new and exciting. Did Red Sparrow do that? I have no idea. I was lost during most of this one. I felt like I was watching an episode of Homeland, enjoying it but not understanding a lick of what I was seeing. But that was also actually what I liked about it. I absolutely had to read spoilers afterward to understand what I had watched but, in doing so, understood and appreciated the film more than I would have had I not.
After she suffers her career-ending leg injury after her partner comes crashing down on it during a performance gone bad, Dominika (Lawrence) faces the prospect of not having her company pay her or cover her mother’s grueling medical costs anymore. She is recruited by her uncle Ivan Egorova (Matthias Schoenaerts), who promises to pay for her mother’s health care if he works for her. She reluctantly agrees, knowing she really has no choice if she wants her mother to receive the care that she needs. Her mission is to seduce Dmitri Ustinov (Kristof Konrad), a wealthy and esteemed figure in Russia. The goal was simply to take his phone that is filled with secrets that would benefit Ivan, and swap it out with a dummy phone. Ivan promises Dominika that it will be a simple mission. Unfortunately, it’s anything but as Dmitri rips off her clothes, throws her on the bed, and begins to violate her. But an unknown assailant is in the room, and he kills Dmitri before he can do anything more severe to Dominika.
So Dominika is saved. Or is she? Because she witnessed a murder, she has one of two choices. The first is death. So the second has to be something better than that, right? She is placed into spy school (aka Sparrow school), where she learns from Matron (Charlotte Rampling – 45 Years, Never Let Me Go) and her superior General Vladimir (Jeremy Irons – Reversal of Fortune, The Mission) on how to use her body as an asset to seduce, gain information, and injure/kill as necessary. She excels in Sparrow school and, as a result, is pulled out early and assigned a mission. Her mission is to find a mole (known as Marble). The Russian traitor is exchanging information with the United States through a CIA operative named Nathaniel Nash (Joel Edgerton – Warrior, The Gift). There is an amazing sleight of hand in one of the film’s first scenes that let us know immediately that the American is a man of interest but that he needs to be released and followed if they will learn who his Russian contact is. And the individual who is assigned to get this information from Nash is Dominika.
It becomes a game of cat and mouse as Nash tries to achieve his goals and Dominika tries to achieve hers. I won’t say anything more about what happens, but it’s an intriguing story of American/Russian relations. There are plenty of double-crosses and surprises along the way, including a shocking single scene involving Mary-Louise Parker (Showtime’s Weeds, Fried Green Tomatoes). This movie is not for the faint of heart. There are plenty of torture scenes and multiple attempted rape scenes. It might be a little intense even for the viewer who can take the most squeamish of scenes. But it’s a decent story and provides plenty of misdirections all the way until the very end. And, if you’re able to keep pace, the movie will come together nicely for you.
While this movie was smartly written and will keep you engrossed, you won’t remember it for its acting. Actually, that is probably the wrong way to phrase it. The acting was fine…as fine as you’ll get in a movie like this, actually. It was just a misuse of both Lawrence and Edgerton. These are two of the finest actors we have and belong in character-driven films. That’s not with this is. And I’m not going to fault an actor for taking on roles where they can earn a lot of money. But whenever I see a film like this, I think of what those actors could have been doing instead. This film could have had anyone play Dominika or Nash. The quality of the movie did not benefit from having these two actors in these roles. However, I understand that more people watched this movie because it starred Lawrence and/or Edgerton.
There are many movies, and television shows out there with lead female spies. Some excel (Claire Danes in Homeland, Keri Russell in The Americans, Charlize Theron in Atomic Blonde, Angelina Jolie in Salt), while others fail to impress (Naomi Watts in Fair Game). This is somewhere in the middle…maybe closer to the side of failing to impress. It held my attention though I didn’t love it. It didn’t offer a whole lot that was new to me, and the lack of character development didn’t help its cause. You could do better than this, but if you see it come across your television, you might give it a chance.
Plot 8/10
Character Development 7/10
Character Chemistry 7/10
Acting 8/10
Screenplay 8/10
Directing 8/10
Cinematography 8/10
Sound 7/10
Hook and Reel 7/10
Universal Relevance 7/10
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