In Eastern Promises, David Cronenberg's hellacious new Russian mob movie, Viggo Mortensen finally comes of age as an actor and a movie star.
Comment
09/14/07
Eastern Promises (2007)
89
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:185
Fresh:164
Rotten:21
Average Rating:7.6/10
Consensus: David Cronenberg triumphs again, showcasing the Viggo Mortensen's onscreen prowess in a daring performance. Bearing the trademarks of psychological drama and gritty violence, Eastern Promises is a very compelling crime story.
Runtime: 1 hr 41 mins
Genre: Thriller, Deception, Theatrical Release, Crime, Violence
US Box Office: $17,114,882
Synopsis: The new thriller reteaming acclaimed director David Cronenberg with his A History of Violence leading man Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises is written by Steve Knight (Academy Award-nominated... [More]
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts, Vincent Cassel, Armin Mueller-Stahl
Director: David Cronenberg
Reviews for Eastern Promises
141 - 160 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
A mysterious crime family with smoldering secrets plays with sharp objects off the slimy backwaters of the Thames. Cronenberg and Mortensen are at it again, with relish!
09/14/07
...a brilliantly acted and directed film that keeps you on the edge of your seat, marred only by the graphic violence and a Hollywood twist that strained my credulity.
09/14/07
Cronenberg's film has a distinctive somber sheen and startling jolts of perversity, and it could only be the work of one man, a director who demonstrates here, yet again, why he's one of the best.
09/14/07
Eastern Promises' unusually ambiguous character study makes for a different kind of crime drama, a striking if not entirely satisfying one.
09/14/07
...doesn't have the mythical pull of A History of Violence, yet Cronenberg is too accomplished and clever of a filmmaker to let this gangster tale seem rote.
09/14/07
Mortensen delivers yet another startling performance, stunning in its intensity and cunning in its ambiguity.
09/14/07
Eastern Promises is a routine crime drama that tries to have Anna’s humanitarian mission give it an air of nobility.
09/14/07
Eastern Promises isn't so much a motion picture as it is a master class in performance nuance and tonal control...an extraordinarily threatening crime saga made with unnerving skill and exquisite detail
09/13/07
What makes it great is that it's a David Cronenberg movie; he tells a compelling story, filled with his own particular obsessions. It's personal, unpretentious and unassuming.
09/13/07
As Cronenberg's primary vehicle, Mortensen makes the show his own.
09/13/07
An ultimately satisfying venture with a few spot-on acting turns, but it is a tad too ordinary for a director who thrives when he is anything but.
09/13/07
The kind of dark, disturbing and deeply fascinating work that jolts you while you are watching it unfold and continues to insinuate itself into your mind long after the end credits have rolled.
09/13/07
Cronenberg's film regulates all its characters to the ghosts that swirl around them.
09/13/07
... has its moments of hideous violence and a few touches of Cronenberg's disgust with human flesh, but for the most part it's simply an OK gangster movie.
09/13/07
One of the best taut thrillers you'll see in 2007.
09/13/07
Eastern Promises, a chilly character thriller set in the Russian underworld of London, has elements of murder mystery and gangster melodrama. But in director David Cronenberg's hands, it's a search for moral bearing in a dark and desperate world.
09/13/07
Top CriticWhile Eastern Promises works overall on more of a low, insinuating simmer, it's one of Cronenberg's most satisfying pictures.
09/13/07
The restraint of both director and actor makes this steely gangster drama reverberate long after it ends.
09/13/07
A thriller can lead us into the fascinating intricacy of a criminal subculture, and Eastern Promises does that with the globalized Russian Mob.
09/13/07
Latest News for Eastern Promises
April 03, 2009:
Weekly Ketchup: Sony announces Men in Black III
Right smack in the middle of this week was April Fool's Day, so some stories this week had to be always be viewed with a grain of salt, but there was indeed real movie news. ... More...
March 30, 2009:
Cronenberg Making More Eastern Promises 
Surprise! David Cronenberg is planning a sequel to "Eastern Promises." (Warning: if you haven't seen "Eastern Promises," and plan to one day, skip the finale-spoiling first... More...
November 05, 2008:
MovieReign.com: Barbershop throat slitting, nude macho wrestling and eye gouging in a bathhouse, and far too willing underage Ukrainian sex slaves. A double vodka, please.
More...
February 17, 2008:
SONY Tropfest
SONY TROPFEST, the world's largest film festival, once again pulled crowds of over 150,000 as it screened the 16 finalists films for 2008. More...
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