Broken Promises

A few years ago, Viggo Mortensen received great acclaim -- and an Oscar nomination -- for his performance in a movie called Eastern Promises, directed by David Cronenberg.

Naomi Watts plays a midwife in a London hospital who delivers the baby of an unknown girl who dies in childbirth. A diary in the girl's possession, filled with Russian, leads the midwife to a dangerous group of Russian mobsters. Viggo Mortensen is a driver working for the boss himself, and ends up caught between his duties and the need to protect this naive woman getting in over her head.

There's no reason for me to be coy about it: this is a slow-paced, boring movie. The trappings of the Russian Mafia -- the relationships, the tattoos, the danger -- are very well presented, and some people might find that very fascinating. I'm not one of those people. I wasn't even all that impressed the performances in the movie; I've liked Viggo Mortensen (and, for that matter, Naomi Watts) well enough in other movies, but I didn't think anyone was doing especially notable work here.

I was about to write off the movie entirely, until one particular scene at the top of the final act. It's a fight that takes place between Mortensen's character and two thugs sent to kill him. It is one of the most brutal, violent, and visceral scenes I've ever seen put on film. From the depths of my "I really should just turn this boring movie off" stupor, I was immediately snapped awake. It was the sort of scene you can't watch but can't look away from.

Viggo Mortensen's performance in this scene is top notch. It's easy to get caught up in the most superficial reason why this is so: the fight takes place in a bathhouse, and he is completely naked during the sequence. But his willingness to do this is not what makes the performance exceptional. It's the intensity he brings to it. What's more, the fight choreography was powerful, the makeup effects were impeccable, and the camera work amplified the action. It was just a perfectly executed sequence.

But...

I would not recommend watching the movie for this scene alone. If some bizarre set of circumstances ever finds you watching this movie, my advice would be to hang in there -- this good piece is coming. But don't set out to see it unless you're a big fan of Mafia movies. I rate the film a D+ overall.