Highly Overrated But Still Good

Did you people see the same film I saw?

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

the poetry of this beautiful film remains the most important fact after its final credits. like a form of flavor. like an old fashion Russian drama. the second - the inspired performances of the lead actresses. and the slices of contemporary Russia discovered from perfect angle. a story from the East. like many others. maybe, to theatrical. but useful eulogy of small things who defines use. like friendship and hope and help. like the words as bridges. like the choice who must be for define the truth. a beautiful film. or a touching one. and the frame for delicate memories.

This film is more than it appears at first glance. Various themes are weaved together to produce a beautiful picture of the relationship between the two leading female characters. The criminal sphere in Moscow is only fraction of the movie and anyone who enjoys a good intellectual drama will find Todorovsky's adaptation of Renata Litvinova's "To Have and To Belong" an absorbing find.

A film for the people who can take their time to think about it. All the problems revealed in it are typical not for the "external" life of the country, but for the people's minds. That's why it seems to be a bit "grotesque" and "uninteresting".

It's a good movie. As almost all the modern Russian movies it has a significant Hollywood feel to it, but all in all it's in the good old tradition. The acting is good (almost always), the plot is simple and effective. Quite a few scenes are done really good. In a sense it combines the depth of European (Russian) movies with power and speed of Hollywood. For example compare the scene of break up of Lesha and Rita with the drugs deal in the airport which is made in the best traditions of Tarantino. All in all good movie worth watching.