Jennifer Lawrence stars as Dominika, a former Russian ballet dancer who is recruited into State School Four by her uncle, played by Matthias Schoenaerts. State School Four is also known as “Sparrow School” and it teaches young Russian men and women how to use their minds and bodies to extract information from their targets. And, in what seems to be the beginning of a new cold war era, the Americans are now the enemy.
Joel Edgerton plays Nate Nash – a comic book name if I’ve ever heard one – a CIA operative who is receiving information from inside the Kremlin. The Russians want to find out who’s giving away their secrets and put their new sexual weapon, Dominika, into action.
There are many problems with this film but I’ll start with the fact that it features a lifeless performance from Jennifer Lawrence. She sounds ridiculous with her put-on Russian accent and I can recall only one scene in the movie – which I won’t reveal – in which she surprised me with some intensity. The rest of the movie is either glacially paced, needlessly confusing, or brutally violent.
I think the goal that Francis Lawrence and company were shooting for was to produce a sexually charged espionage thriller. What Red Sparrow ends up being is slightly better than an ambitious Z-grade Cinemax feature with Katniss Everdeen being beaten, raped, and humiliated throughout its overly long two-hour and twenty-minute running time. It’s not sexy. It’s not exciting. And it certainly did not make me believe for a second there was any chemistry between Jennifer Lawrence and Joel Edgerton. And, since the entire second half of the movie depends on your interest in their relationship, it fails miserably as a result.
1.5 out of 5.0 stars
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