I saw the trailer to this movie last week and felt that it did not look very promising, but since the lead was Keanu Reeves, I thought why not give this one a try? As usual when in doubt of the movie's quality, I would see it by myself rather than asking my wife to accompany me to avoid any regret if she hates it. So here is more on the movie.
Brief Story Line
Lucas Hill (Keanu Reeves - John Wick and its sequel, The Whole Truth etc) was a diamond trader and would go around the world making deals with various buyers and sellers, leaving his wife Gabby (Molly Ringwald - The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink etc) at home. One of the business transaction he was currently having was with a dangerous Russian mob led by Boris Volkov (Pasha D. Lychnikoff - Beyond Valkyrie: Dawn of the 4th Reich, Deadwood TV series etc).
When the transaction was in danger of collapsing, Lucas tried to find his partner in Siberia to ensure it would still be successful. There he would encounter a cafe owner named Katya (Ana Ularu - Emerald City TV series, Inferno etc) and was entangled in a passionate relationship with her. Things would soon become more complicated as the deal would involve other dangerous people.
So what would happen to Lucas, and what would be the outcome of his relationship with Katya? Find them all in this drama romance thriller movie.
End of Brief Story line
Well this was - sorry to say - a complete waste of time. When I saw the trailer to the movie, I had sensed that it would be a B movie, but I thought at least it would have some thrill. It turned out that the movie was much of a romance and drama rather than thriller. Only up to the last 20 minutes or so the film felt to be a bit more suspenseful and interesting. Unfortunately though, I could already guessed the outcome of the movie and the ending was quite predictable. I really felt sorry for people who were probably expecting some kind of action or thrilling suspenseful Keanu Reeves movie and I am very sure that those who saw this would feel very disappointed, especially with such ending.
My personal regret was actually that I did not see the category of the movie in the website, as it was put under romantic crime thriller genre. I believed that it should be seen as romance drama movie due to such limited action scenes and thrilling moments. Keanu Reeves had more action in the bedroom than the "real" action in this movie. However, do not expect the level of erotic thriller/drama movies like the Fifty Shades series or Basic Instinct. So this movie would be suitable only for adults. If I had noticed that category earlier, I might be a lot more reluctant to see the film.
As a romance thriller movie, obviously the story would focus on the relationship between Lucas Hill and Katya. However, I thought that it was not really convincing. Yes the passion was there during the love making scenes, but it did not feel realistic enough. I did not feel the relationship was convincing and I even thought that it was a little bit disturbing (especially when Lucas' wife was mentioned in one of those scenes). There were additional characters whom I felt did not make any impression, though Pasha D. Lychnikoff did give a convincing performance as mob leader (I saw him few times earlier, usually playing this kind of character). And not even the quite chilling but beautiful Siberia scenery could help make this movie more interesting.
Overall, I would recommend people who are still thinking of seeing this movie to avoid it. Especially if you want to see some actions. Unless of course if you only want to see Keanu Reeves having senseless romantic relationship with a Russian cafe owner. I have to agree with critics on this that the movie was not worthwhile to see.
Mike's movie moments rating: 1.5 out of 5 stars
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