Violent, yes, but Eastern Promises is a great piece of cinema. A good story, well written and very well directed, it was a terrific thriller. Naomi Watts plays her damsel in danger with subtlety and Vigo Mortensen is convincing as the driver/fixer who is not all he seems. His fight in the bathhouse is very violent and bloody, but not as excruciating as the slit throat right at the start. Great stuff from David Cronenberg.
I was quite disappointed with Elizabeth:The Golden Age. By far the best section was in the middle which dealt with the plot to install Mary Stuart on the throne. But the scenes with Clive Owen as Sir Walter Raleigh seemed contrived and were wholly uninteresting. And I am not convinced he is a good actor. As Cate Blanchett was immediately the Queen, Clive Owen was always Clive Owen. And he has been the same in every part I have seen him play, except, perhaps for Children of Men. The final section about the Armada was rushed and unsatisfying.
American Gangster seemed quite a departure for Ridley Scott, but a film of which he can be proud. The whole movie seemed to be filmed on location and the different scenes flew by making the two and a half hours feel a lot shorter. Great performances from Denzel Washington and, particulary, Russell Crowe as the story jumps from one to the other. Never meeting until the end, and their final scenes are the better for it.
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