Eastern Promises

Eastern Promises is a well-crafted exhibit of the Russian mob world. Director David Cronenberg shows once again, his great talent in this "genre" of film. The film stars Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts in a very bizarre tale of events set in Russian-Community London. The film battles communal pride, motherly instinct and the "information-gathering" similar to last year's The Departed and my grade for both films are similar. I do feel that this film has some weakness: Why would the two co-stars kiss at the end. That boggled me. It didnt work for me. The film however creates a great pace and is edited very, very well. Viggo Mortensen shines as an informant-undertaker-chauffeur with a very mysterious tone. His performance is the best part of the film. A very good work here by returning duo, Mortensen and Cronenberg, which has created its own style of film. Other than a few odd choices, i thought the filmmakers did a magnificent job. I wanted a different ending. I never felt forced during the film, which is a great credit to the film. I would rate this movie with a similar grade to "A Mighty Heart" and "Zodiac" and a little bit behind "Into the Wild", "American Gangster", "Once" and "La Vie en Rose" as my best so far this year.

Grade: A-/B+