Ten Men and a Movie: Eastern Promises

One of the cool things about living in LA is we get to see some movies before the rest of you people do. One of those movies is Eastern Promises, which we saw this past Friday night.

It’s a good movie with a stupid title. “Eastern Promises” sounds like the name of an upstate NY rehab clinic, or a Yugoslavian brand of laxatives. What the movie really is about however, is a story set in London about human trafficking, Russian immigrants, and the Russian version of the mob, the Vor V Zakone. Throw in some of the Departed, and a nice twist (which we figured out about halfway thru) and you've got yourself a good movie.

When we first saw the preview, we weren't sure if it was Viggo Mortenson or Ed Harris, but whoever it was, they had a great head of fucking hair. Like a younger, Russian Paulie walnuts. He's a driver for a Russian godfather who we encounter when a nurse played by Naomi Watts tries to translate a diary left behind by a pregnant Russian sex slave.

It’s violent- any wannabe throat surgeons out here, put down that $100 copy of Gray’s Anatomy and just spend the $7 on this movie instead. There's also a brutal knife fight inside a Russian Steam Room, between a naked Vigo Mortenson and 2 Chechnyans. (So there's something for the ladies too.) Those of you up to date on your world affairs knows what to expect when you hear two Chechnyans are in town.

Come to find out the director consulted with a woman we briefly worked with out here, Alix Lambert. She made a documentary on Russian prison tattoos; one of the biggest elements in this film is the tattoos worn by members of the Russian mob.

Currently playing only in NY and LA, but soon to open across the rest of the Nation. When it does open nationwide, there's a few Cold Warriors we know who should climb out of their bunkers and see this one.