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

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

"The Russia House" could have been good. After all, a film based upon a novel by John Le Carre should be at least very watchable. What follows is a completely incomprehensible mess of a film. That criminally under-rated actor Roy Scheider could have been given better dialogue to work with but the same applies to everyone else. The one thing I do enjoy, is Connery's performance. Decidedly cantankerous and irascible, he displays more tragic qualities as the film goes by. There is no sense of continuity or of a basic narrative structure. All the scenes seem to have just been casually thrown together because none of them connect to each other. Not what I was expecting at all.

The Russia House (1990)Plot In A Paragraph: Small time, alcoholic London book publisher Barley Blair (Connery) an expatriate British publisher unexpectedly finds himself working for the CIA and MI6 to investigate people in Russia.The Movie is brilliantly cast, Connery in what did lol like a $10 wig, due to its dishevelled, thinning appearance, gives a very relaxed performance and has a twinkle in his eye. Michelle Pfeiffer makes a splendid natural beauty Katya, Klaus Maria Michelle Brandauer is fantastic (how did this man not get more work??) Roy Schindler (inexplicably in his last great role) is brilliant as the head of the CIA, John Mahoney is great as is Edward Fox as the head of MI6.I love Jerry Goldsmith's score, it is beautiful. I know it's not to every ones taste, and at the time of release, several critics called it "boring", "dull" and "dreary" but I think it is great. I'd rather watch this than another car chase movie like Fast & Furious. The slo motion ending is a bit over done, but that's it. I love it, and think it was one of the years best movies.With scathing reviews, Russia House grossed $22 million at the domestic box office, to end 1990 as the 52nd highest grossing movie of the year.

Katya Orlova (Michelle Pfeiffer) passes along a manuscript intended for minor publisher boozy Barley Blair (Sean Connery). It contains three notebooks from Dante (Klaus Maria Brandauer) showing Russian military secrets and their inferiority. Dante had meet Barley earlier during a party where they connected. British agent Ned (James Fox) and CIA Russell (Roy Scheider) lead the effort to make contact with Dante and determine the validity of the information.This movie does get a good sense of a period of time in Russia. What is truly missing is a sense of tension. There isn't enough danger for Barley. He's not getting killed. At most, the Americans put a little pressure on him but the problem is that he doesn't care. Like he says, he's not selling them the Picasso. He's really just the delivery boy transporting the Picasso. I struggle to figure out what the danger is for Barley. Obviously, the danger is higher for Katya. I love Michelle Pfeiffer but her Russian accent annoyed me. Also there is little chemistry between her and Sean Connery. Her motives are questionable and he's just an old dude after a hot young thing.The most interesting relationship in this movie is between Ned and Russell. They have to decide whether this is real or not. Also they have to run the plan. Their positions are on the line which elevates the danger level for them. It seems to me that there is an easy solution to the questions falling into the wrong hands. They could add other questions to the list. While there are interesting aspects to this movie, there is a dangerous lack of tension.

for me,this adaptation of A John le Carr'e novel is nothing spectacular.in fact,i found it boring and hard to follow.plus,i didn't find any of the character compelling.and there were many predictable moments as well.i will say though that Michele Pfeiffer was convincing as a Russian woman.she had the accent down pat,as far as i could tell.and there were some nice shots of Russian buildings.some of the old buildings are quite magnificent to behold.unfortunately,none of the above is the reason i wanted to watch the movie.i just wanted it end,but i went on and on.and on.anyway,my vote for the Russia House is a 5/10