Considering the great Polish filmmaker Lukasz Kosmicki understandably has an ax to grind with the former Soviet Union, a lot of what happens in this film is a poison penned skewering of a very troubled time both for the World and Poland.
But.
The film filters today's hyperbolic hunger for exaggerated violence and villiany through a "lens" of historical events that have their own compelling importance without hanging a bunch of nonsense onto it. Worse, those unfamiliar with any of the actual events will walking way thinking that someone's fantasy is history. Boo.
The Cold War was exactly that. Doubtful American personnel, agents or not, would be assassinated on the spot of a major sporting event. More likely they'd "disappear" in a jail never to be heard from again. And putting an unreliable, alcoholic has-been as the person who will save the world from possible nuclear annihilation just wouldn't happen.
That said, the film on it's own terms is entertaining and handles a lot of (needlessly) confusing details with skill. The dreary world behind the Iron Curtain is particularly carefully rendered, and the actors who are desperate to create a convincing character with very little to go on from the screenplay do a uniformly fine job.
Pullman, who's always a personable actor, is cast against type, and he doesn't exactly fail at creating a character of incredible complexity and eccentricity, but a little more time working on the role might have deepened the impact the film is trying to make. He seems a little silly and the mask to hide his severe alcoholism is cartoonish. It makes you ask, "Couldn't they have come up with a much less risky way to stop Armageddon than relying on this guy?"
The script requires a lot of exposition that is handled well. But all the secret panels, drunken episodes, hallucinations, black outs and liquor troves might have worked better with a lighter, comedic tone to the film (as in "Dr. Strangelove").
It's a lot to say about a film that will disappear and be forgotten. But with today's current events and similar geopolitical threats, there's more weight to project than it deserves.
But.
The film filters today's hyperbolic hunger for exaggerated violence and villiany through a "lens" of historical events that have their own compelling importance without hanging a bunch of nonsense onto it. Worse, those unfamiliar with any of the actual events will walking way thinking that someone's fantasy is history. Boo.
The Cold War was exactly that. Doubtful American personnel, agents or not, would be assassinated on the spot of a major sporting event. More likely they'd "disappear" in a jail never to be heard from again. And putting an unreliable, alcoholic has-been as the person who will save the world from possible nuclear annihilation just wouldn't happen.
That said, the film on it's own terms is entertaining and handles a lot of (needlessly) confusing details with skill. The dreary world behind the Iron Curtain is particularly carefully rendered, and the actors who are desperate to create a convincing character with very little to go on from the screenplay do a uniformly fine job.
Pullman, who's always a personable actor, is cast against type, and he doesn't exactly fail at creating a character of incredible complexity and eccentricity, but a little more time working on the role might have deepened the impact the film is trying to make. He seems a little silly and the mask to hide his severe alcoholism is cartoonish. It makes you ask, "Couldn't they have come up with a much less risky way to stop Armageddon than relying on this guy?"
The script requires a lot of exposition that is handled well. But all the secret panels, drunken episodes, hallucinations, black outs and liquor troves might have worked better with a lighter, comedic tone to the film (as in "Dr. Strangelove").
It's a lot to say about a film that will disappear and be forgotten. But with today's current events and similar geopolitical threats, there's more weight to project than it deserves.