My two films this weekend had everything to do with why I go to them: escape. Escape from what? My life is great, can't be that. When my wife passed away almost a decade ago, I recalled that we had a great time having lunch at the Ward Buca di Beppo, followed by a movie so that we could overcome the wine we had. So I began for this reason and expanded to many more of my Sundays.
The two:
Rotten Tomatoes Box Office Mojo My Rating
Reviewers Audiences
Death Wish 17 82 10 B+
Red Sparrow 47 57 9 B+
Reviewers did not like them, and absolutely trashed Bruce Willis' Death Wish as a simple re-hash. Part of this reaction is a gun-control mentality that pervades society today. The media seem compelled to dissing their enemies, such as the National Rifle Association.





Jennifer Lawrence plays a prima ballerina with Bolshoi, which was a stretch since all their female stars generally look emaciated. In any case, she accidentally falls and breaks her leg and career. She has a dependent mother, and is coerced by her uncle, a high ranking intelligence administrator, to become a Red Sparrow, a morally demeaning task where seduction is the job assignment to extract information.
Jeremy Irons was good as a Russian general, and so was Charlotte Rampling, who definitely is back from her nervous breakdown. The film might have been too graphic in violence and sex, and the transitions seemed particularly awkward on occasion, but is worth my B+ rating. Is Lawrence a double agent linked to an American spy played by Joel Edgerton (left), who must have also gone through similar training? Nah, the USA can't have these kinds of schools. Or was it love?
While the financial burden of Red Sparrow might become a major hurdle, this is the first of a trilogy, written by Jason Matthews. The ending leaves the door wide open to Red Sparrow 2, or maybe it will be titled Palace of Treason.
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