Ah, This Review was gonna be TOO Easy...St Pete Times has an Entertainment Section in each Thursday's Paper, & There, ALREADY-REVIEWED, (By Sean Daly,I think) was THIS Movie!

But, wanting to be Fair on this Critique, I merely checked His Rating (C-Minus on an A-thru-F Scale), did a REAL-Brief Read (He's seen this Director's work before, disliked all the VIOLENT Scenes), and figured I'd SAVE this Section so I could come back tonight from actually Seeing This Flick and there, on the table, I'd have ALL The NAMES-Involved, (Ready-Written, Spelled Correctly) just Waiting for My Return! Piece-of-CAKE!!

WRONG... La Femme, bless her Tidyfying Instincts, tossed out ALL the Morning Papers just in time for the AM Trash Pickup today..Little Did I Know.

SO...ALL the Movie's Personae will remain NAMELESS, until I read Another Review, Somewhere Else. And this'll be my Least-Professional Review EVER..to-date.

But...Lucky You, I Don't Embarrass Easily! AND, I CAN give you a good idea of What's Goin' ON in this Interesting Foreign-Made Movie.

MAIN PLOTLINE: Old-Style Russian Mafia Life is Alive & Kicking in Modern-Day London.
MAIN SUB-PLOTLINE: The Rigors of Keeping an Accidental Baby (of a Mafia Boss) Alive & Safe...(When it threatens to bring down his entire operation..or at least the London Branch!)

MAIN CHARACTERS: ANNA, A 25-to-30-Something Londoner, Well-Played by a nice Gal-Next-Door Blond Actress..(Or "Actor" if I gotta be Politically-Correct these-confusing-days.)
MAFIA GUY #1 (Handsome Devil!) is "Just a DRIVER" for Mafia Boss' Heir-Apparent-Alcoholic-Gay Son (We'll just call him "MG-2").

SUB-CHARACTERS: Include MAFIA BOSS, ANNA'S AUNT (Or maybe-MOM?) and her RUSSIAN-EMIGRE UNCLE, a former KGB "Auxilliary" with a Temper & Street Smarts.

I'll try to be Brief Describing this Flick: I enjoyed all the INTRIGUE & Behind-The-Scenes Goings-On as MG-1 finesses ALL the little Trials & Errors, on his Upward Way to becoming a "Made" Russian Mafioso. He's way more Subtle and Believable than any James Bond I've encountered on-celluloid..& frankly, the VERY Sanguine fight scenes ARE as-Realistic as it gets.

By Flick's End, you'll see throats slashed, box-cutters in-action, fingers snipped off, & Lots of Tattooing. BUT, and this I found interesting, NOT ONE GUN...(We're in Civilized LONDON, after all!)

Weaving the Main Plot along is Nurse ANNA's insisting on getting the Dead Baby's Mother's Diary translated from Russian to English. Her well-meaning puts just about EVERYBODY in-danger, because it's father IS the Mafia Boss she takes a COPY to for Translation..little does she know, but now she knows TOO Much.

Luckily, MG-1 has a Heart, tho it's almost removed in the Bathhouse Box-cutter scene. (THESE Bad Guys are SO Bad you'll forget they're actors.)

NOT for The Squeamish. My wife hated The Gore, & I was one of the 3 or 4 of us who Applauded at Movie's End.

But it's a GOOD Complicated Movie about Mostly BAD Complicated People dealing with daily Complications...and making LOTS of "Life-or-Death Decisions"..daily..than WE'LL ever have to deal with. (Hopefully!) Look away from the gore, if ya need to, & you'll see a very Interesting..& I think Realistic..Movie about Russian Mafia Life.

I rate it a 6-outta-10. Woulda been a "7" if our print had had a Decently-Recorded Soundtrack..all but the Dialogue is TINNY & The Music often Distracts. Some of the Russian Dialect is also tough to follow, but ya get English Subtitles when there's pure Russian Spoken.

I enjoyed the Sleek Black Cars, multitudes of Shiny Black Leather Jackets, MG-1's pricey Sunglasses, the Vintage 'Cycle Anna tools around on, & all of the London Settings (Including Dark Cobblestoned Alleys & a Great set of Waterfront Stone Steps to perfectly-launch a Body...or a Baby..from.)

Bottom Line: GUYS will Like It, GALS will (Mostly) Loathe the Violence, but LOVE MG-1, a real Man's Man! LEAVE the Kids at HOME (or they won't sleep for Weeks.)

JMO, Natch! Keep-or-Sweep!
Big Hugs,
Stan