123. Red Sparrow; movie review

RED SPARROW
Cert 15
140 mins
BBFC advice: Contains strong bloody violence, gore, sexual violence, sex, very strong language

Usually I smell desperation when a movie has as much pre-publicity as has been dedicated to Francis Lawrence's Red Sparrow.
From chat shows to bus stops it has been hard to get away from Jennifer Lawrence looking all mysterious in long brown and blonde wigs.
Often such a splurge of media activity is an attempt to lure a rush of bums on to seats in the early screenings, knowing that there will be little word-of-mouth recommendation and all the money needs to be made quickly.
Well, I am glad to report, after watching Red Sparrow at Derby Odeon, my first course of action was to endorse it to Mrs W and Miss W.
This is largely down to the ever-brilliant Jennifer Lawrence. She may have been a bit curt to Joanna Lumley at the BAFTAs but, boy, can she act.
Even handicapped by having a Russian accent, she is super in this classic femme fatale role.
Lawrence plays Dominica, a ballet dancer who suffers an horrendous injury at the Bolshoi and is, consequently, in danger of losing the subsidised home in which she cares for her ailing mother (Joely Richardson).
Thus, her uncle (Matthias Schoenaerts), a high-up in the security services, offers to have her trained for undercover missions.
The relationship between Dominica and her uncle is central to a fast-moving, violent, highly sexual movie in which the apparently obvious is not quite what it seems.
On the other side of the political fence is Joel Egerton as an American spy who has been running a double agent in Moscow.
The frisson between Egerton and Lawrence offers another important edge to Red Sparrow with an A-star cast, including Jeremy Irons, Ciaran Hinds and Charlotte Rampling, as the Russian puppet-masters.
Francis Lawrence claims Red Sparrow should not be seen as a political movie but its run could not have been better timed - thanks to real-life poisonings and spy expulsions.
I am afraid whatever he says, the parallels are obvious.
March is traditionally the season for the duff films which will not challenge for awards but I am pleased to report that Red Sparrow is certainly not a springtime turkey.

Reasons to watch: Another great performance by Jennifer Lawrence
Reasons to avoid: The sexual scenes are very tough

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: Yes
Nudity: Yes
Overall rating: 8/10

Director quote - Francis Lawrence on the physical demands on Jennifer Lawrence: "She knew that ‘either I make it and I do what’s in the movie or I don’t do it. I’m not going to take this movie on and then say I’ll do it but just take all this other stuff out’.”

The big question - When will the Cold War ever end?

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