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‘Eastern Promises' promises to be no blockbuster

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According to a well known online critics' website, “Eastern Promises,” starring Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts, warrants an 89 percent approval rating. Maybe I fail to see the reason for raves, because I find no thrill or satisfaction in a fully nude man fighting for his life against clothed adversaries wielding box cutters in a men's bathhouse, nor I am particularly fond of blood letting of the viciously vivid and gruesomely graphic nature. I found little new or fresh in this at times slothfully slow mob tale.

Naomi Watts plays Anna, a midwife at a Trafalgar Hospital in London. After delivering a baby for an unwed mother who dies during childbirth, Anna - armed only with the girl's diary (penned completely in Russian) and a single business card stashed in its pages - goes in search of living relatives of the dead woman's child. Her search unexpectedly brings her into contact with the Russian mob, headed by a restaurant owner named Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl), who at first appears to be a kind old grandfather, but this façade only partially fools Anna. Making Anna all the more suspicious is Semyon's disturbing, drunken son Kirill (Vincent Cassel). They feign kindness and concern for the baby and Anna, but ultimately all they want is the young girl's diary, which harbors secrets about both Semyon and his son.

To do their dirty work, the family employs Nikolai (Mortensen), whose official role is as Semyon's driver, but who is also referred to as “the undertaker.” We watch as he gruesomely disposes of a body. Nikolai has his own secrets, not the least of which is a desire to depose Semyon and replace him upon the throne of the Russian criminal underworld in London.

“Eastern Promises” follows two simple storylines, neither of which smacks of originality. The first focuses on Anna's near-obsessive need to find a family for the motherless baby, whom she has named Christina. In short shrift, we learn that Anna quite recently lost a child and finds herself drawn to the newborn on a maternal level. Woven into this lackluster tale lies the meatier and slightly more interesting criminal element of the story, which includes gamesmanship amongst the gangsters and back-stabbing (literally) deceit, all designed to see who will ultimately end up on top. The “surprise” twist - dangled not-so-subtly before viewers' eyes -introduces more problems than it solves and leads in part to the dissatisfying openness that accompanies the hurried finale.

Mortensen's Nikolai, like his character in “A History of Violence,” burns up the screen - his eyes pierce the heart and his soft-spoken voice penetrates. Masterfully, Mortensen gives a gritty portrayal of this mysterious, sinister man. He garners sympathy in spite of his sordid dealings, and part of me wanted him to turn out differently - and he does, sort of - but the ending left me feeling unfulfilled. Mortensen is not a good-looking man, but his talent and physique draw in viewers. Watts, too, fills Anna's shoes well, but if I must choose favorites, Mortensen and a subtly sinister Mueller-Stahl, who curls hair with his “god-fatherly” demeanor, get my vote.

I am fully aware that director David Cronenberg's films lean toward graphicness and violence. I am one of the few who did not like “A History of Violence,” and if I had paid closer attention, the blood-fest in “Eastern Promises” would not have come as such a shock to me. The overrated and insanely vile “A History of Violence” did little to impress me; in “Eastern Promises,” I again cringed at the realism of the brutality. To be fair, “Eastern Promises” does contain footage that plays more on emotion and suspense than violence, but gruesome visuals stick in the mind more memorably than do characters. At the screening, my friend turned her head each time, visibly unnerved and frankly grossed out, by skin being sliced and blood spewing out.

Rightly rated R for violence, sexually explicit scenes and language, “Eastern Promise” most likely finds its fans in the crowd that enjoyed “A History of Violence,” but I don't buy in. The storyline in “Eastern Promises” harbors nothing unique and my friend kept comparing it to the “Godfather” films. When a film falls so easily into previous films' shadows, then I think it is better left undone - or at the very least saved for DVD rental.

I am placing a C- in my gradebook. Cronenberg can direct this hyper-graphic genre well, so I will avoid a lower score. Apparently only 11 percent of other critics agree with me, but I don't care. I was bored in spite of the creative directing and powerful performances and a knife in the eye doesn't change my mind.

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