Red Sparrow

Red Sparrow

Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Matthias Schoenaerts, Charlotte Rampling

Directed by Francis Lawrence

The Story:
Dominika Egorova (Jennifer Lawrence) is a successful ballet dancer for the Bolshoi Ballet until she suffers a career-ending accident.  Now crippled, she has to find a way to provide for her ailing mother and keep the apartment they live in.  Her uncle Ivan (Matthias Schoenaerts) works for Russian intelligence, and brings her in to seduce a Russian politician to obtain information.  When the politician is killed in front of her, she's forced to become a Sparrow - a covert Russian spy who attains information by seducing their targets.

After training under the strict leadership of Matron (Charlotte Rampling), Dominika shows signs of rebellion and doesn't listen to the authority, but she is still brought on to seduce CIA agent Nate Nash (Joel Edgerton) into giving her information on a mole he knows in the Russian government.  Although Nash knows who Dominika is, they begin a relationship that threatens both their lives, where lines are blurred between loyalties, and nothing is as it seems.

The Synopsis:
A beautiful Russian ballet dancer who's exceptionally trained in combat and espionage is tasked with seducing an enemy agent in hopes of finding out information that will expose a mole inside the government.  While this sounds like the origin story of Marvel hero Black Widow, it's actually a film called "Red Sparrow," based off a novel by former CIA agent Jason Matthews, starring Jennifer Lawrence as the Red Sparrow.  Within the first ten minutes of this film, you know you're not seeing a Marvel family-friendly film, and are probably aware that this isn't about the famed S.H.I.E.L.D. superspy.  Instead, it's a super long narrative filled with intrigue, suspense, surprising amounts of gore, and intense subjugation and dehumanization of the lead character who seemingly both is strong enough to take on the big boys, yet also vulnerable enough to succumb to their power.

Jennifer Lawrence has grown in leaps and bounds as an actress, which says a lot considering her first starring role in "Winter's Bone" earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress (it wouldn't be the first time she was nominated, and she even won for her work in "Silver Linings Playbook").  Best known for playing the heroine Katniss Everdeen in "The Hunger Games" (which the last three films were directed by Francis Lawrence - no relation - who also directed her here), Lawrence has always exuded a fearlessness to her acting, willing to go farther for her roles than you'd expect a leading lady to go.  Last year she appeared in Darren Aronofsky's "mother!" and went through the proverbial wringer for the role.  Here, she goes through the literal wringer as she succumbs to outlandish torture - both physically, mentally and emotionally - at the hands of the men around her.  It's interesting considering the time we live in to see a woman being degraded and reduced to a weapon of sex - she's even told that her body belongs to the state - yet also how she bucks the system and refuses to go along with the flow.  Her performance shines in a film that's filled with darkness and depression, with very little moments of brevity - even if her Russian accent isn't as fluid as it should be.

On the flip side, there's Joel Edgerton, who plays the CIA agent Lawrence is sent to seduce.  For a film that's so long (two hours and twenty minutes), we get very little information about Edgerton's character, and even less chemistry between the two leads.  Dominika seemingly is the worst spy in the world, as Nate immediately sees through her facade and calls her out on who she really is, but yet they begin a relationship anyway, and you never know if its genuine or they're playing each other.  Here, somehow, Edgerton is underused as an actor and his character doesn't achieve the greatness that Lawrence's character does.

Matthias Schoenaerts plays a Russian intelligence agent who's also Dominika's creepy uncle who brings her aboard the Sparrow program, and he oddly resembles that of a particular Russian president.  Jeremy Irons and Ciaran Hinds offer compelling performances as Russian officials, and Oscar nominee Charlotte Rampling relishes in her role as the no-nonsense Matron, the lead trainer in the Sparrow program who flows through the film with a monotone nature and basically serves as that strict headmaster anyone who attended private school could associate with.  The scene-stealer award goes to Mary-Louise Parker, who plays a US Senator's Chief of Staff who offers the only lighthearted moments in the film.

The film is intensely dark, in both the theme and filming style, and it never lets up.  The beginning scene of Dominika dancing is absolutely beautiful and graceful - until she suffers an accident that will have you cringing.  It only goes downhill from there, as she is raped by a politician, almost raped by a fellow cadet, and brutally tortured in ways that make waterboarding look like a trip to the beach.  Yet through it all, Dominika doesn't loose her steely resolve, and maintains her balance and stays one step ahead of everyone around her.  She's smart and dangerous, which is why she's the perfect Sparrow.

Francis Lawrence isn't afraid to let Jennifer Lawrence soar in her character, and you can tell he gives her freedom to fully expose herself (both physically and mentally) in her role in a way that only a trusted director could do.  While the film tends to run a bit long (there's several moments that could've been cut or condensed to make it more tight), the story is a highly cerebral tale that will have you re-watching it (if you can stomach it) in order to pick up the small events you missed that lead to the interesting conclusion.  That's the hallmark of a great film, but here it only makes it a good film due to the overly-long length. 

The Summary:
Despite it's long running time, "Red Sparrow" offers enough twists and turns to keep you interested, with a captivating lead performance by Jennifer Lawrence.

The Score: A-