2018 Film Review: Red Sparrow (2018)

Directed by: Francis Lawrence
Written by: Justin Haythe, based upon the book by Jason Matthews
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Matthias Schoenaerts
IMDb Link

Red Sparrow wants to be a taut, sexy political thriller, but its pacing leaves it a little loose and it seems ashamed of its own sexuality. That said, the twists and turns of its politics and the performances of its leads (save for a few questionable accents) keep the movie solid.

We follow Dominika Egorova (Lawrence), a broken ballerina forced to become a Sparrow, Russian espionage agents taught to use their sexuality to get what they want. Egorova is insubordinate but clever, so her unconventional methods are overlooked due to her usefulness. Her first assignment involves getting information from CIA Agent Nate Nash (Edgerton, and yes, that is the character's name) about a mole in the Russian government.

The film regularly twists and turns to keep the audience guessing, but while the story is intriguing the pacing often sags as the film occasionally deviates to unnecessary side plots or scenes that ultimately add very little and slow the whole affair down. It doesn't help that the movie doesn't have much energy for its story; the film feels a little bereft of style, unsure if it wants to be trashy or try to take itself a little seriously. It's a shame, too, because when the story is focused it's considerably effective, with much of the film's cynicism and political discussion being at least nuanced enough make the grey of it all work.

This inconsistency is present in the leads as well. The film has more to do when Lawrence and Edgerton are pretending to flirt with each other, showing them play each other and then show their intentions as they return to their respective agencies. Once the facade drops Red Sparrow becomes a lot less interesting and loses much of the enthusiasm it once applied (the same could be said at some point for Lawrence's accent). That said, both Lawrence and Edgerton give strong performances whenever they're doing their own thing, which is part of what makes the early scenes of the movie stronger.

There's also the variable employment of sex and violence. The film is unerringly brutal in the use of blood and broken bones, but for the softer weapon in a Sparrow's arsenal the film values Egorova's virtue. It's a strange mix to balance; the film understandably wants to convey that the system Egorova works in is wrong because it forces its Sparrows to essentially be whores for the good of the state, but then it pulls back from this idea somewhat when Egorova proves her value in other ways. It's an aspect of the film that reinforces the grey cynicism of it all, but is, both in and out of text, odd when the state is seemingly so adamant about it but then so flaky on enforcing it, and when the film otherwise so easily churns out gut-wrenching savagery.

The Short Version: Red Sparrow is a decent if rough political thriller with some good performances and an interesting plot held back by poor pacing and inconsistent restraint.

Rating: 6/10

Published March 6th, 2018