There is much to unpack with Francis Lawrence’s (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, I Am Legend) ambitious spy thriller Red Sparrow, a 2018 early summer release that mainly flew 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 that doesn’t mean that every movie she does will earn her an Oscar nomination or gross $100 million. And she’s not that 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 starred 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 as 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 typically review. I hardly even remember when it came out in the theatre. But most of the films I’ve been recently reviewing have been movies that I’ve enjoyed. And it’s not that I didn’t enjoy Red Sparrow. It’s just that it won’t be a film that I will add to my collection anytime soon. It was also a pretty tricky movie to follow. Most spy movies that come out these days are a little hard to follow. Part of that is my unfamiliarity with how spies operate, spy terminology, etc., and 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 felt lost during most of this one. I felt like I was enjoying an episode of Homeland but did not understand most of what I saw. But that was also actually what I liked about it. I had to read spoilers afterward to understand what I had watched, but, in doing so, I 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. Her uncle Ivan Egorova (Matthias Schoenaerts) recruits her, promising to pay for her mother’s health care if he works for her. She reluctantly agrees, knowing she 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 to take his phone, 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. She receives a place in a 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) 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 a fantastic 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 reach 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 may be intense even for viewers who can take the most squeamish of scenes. But it’s a decent story and provides plenty of misdirections until the end. And, if you can keep pace, the movie will come together nicely for you.

While this movie was smartly written and will engross you, the acting was somewhat forgettable. 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. I won’t 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 Edgerton.

There are many movies and television shows 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, closer to failing to impress. It held my attention, though I didn’t love it. It didn’t offer me anything 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
75%

C-

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