More “Tinker Tailor Solider Spy” than “Atomic Blonde,” 20th Century Fox‘s dramatic espionage thriller “Red Sparrow” is likely not the film you’re expecting, or wanting, especially if you’re a fan of the mainstream works of Jennifer Lawrence. When one thinks of director Francis Lawrence (no relation) and his body of work — films like “I Am Legend,” “Constantine,” and “The Hunger Games” series — his CV doesn’t exactly scream out slow-burn spy thriller ala novelist John le Carré, but that’s exactly what the filmmaker unexpectedly delivers in this adaption of Jason Matthews‘ acclaimed novel. While it’s Lawrence’s most mature and relatively subtle effort to date, it’s also, unfortunately, a slog. The director’s well-intentioned patience ultimately means nothing when its interminable pacing makes the movie feel twice as protracted as its longwinded, two-hour-plus running time.
Additionally, despite all its bendy twists and turns, of which there are arguably too many, “Red Sparrow,” while well-intentioned in its efforts to be a more adult effort for both the director and his A-list star, the thriller winds up hollow, flat and largely uninvolving. But it’s not for lack of trying to make something beyond a cat and mouse spy thriller. “Red Sparrow” is ultimately interested in delivering an empowering tale of a woman attempting to reclaim the life that was stolen from her, on her own terms. But while the character’s agency is fortified in determination and purpose, it lacks a relatable emotive spark. After three ‘Hunger Games’ films, Lawrence has found an affinity for telling tales of survival, and female-led ones at that — this is his fourth film in a row starring Jennifer Lawrence — but their latest collaboration just never clicks into anything inspired.
Lawrence stars as the willful, tenacious Dominika Egorova, a Russian ballet dancer whose career is cut short after a debilitating leg injury. Faced with the grim reality of tending to her sick mother without the medical coverage of the state-run ballet company, and an uncertain future ahead of her, she turns to her shady uncle Vanya Egorov (an oily and slick Matthias Schoenaerts), a Foreign Intelligence Service (known as the SVR) chief, and makes a deal with the devil. What should be a simple assignment goes sideways and in the aftermath, Dominika finds herself manipulated into attending “Sparrow School,” where she is trained as a seductress and taught how to weaponize her sexuality as a deadly tool of psychological deceit and persuasion. Bitter and dissident, however, Dominika isn’t as pliable as most of the recruits and a personal agenda bubbles below the surface. “Don’t give them everything, not every piece of you,” her mother warns, and these prove to be the words she lives by.
Crossing paths with a demoted American CIA agent (Joel Edgerton) trying to recover from a career-damaging mistake, Dominika is sucked into a world of deception and intrigue that finds two countries vying for her loyalties. The surface plot revolves around uncovering a Russian mole supplying secrets to the Americans for years — Edgerton’s agent is the only American she trusts — but “Red Sparrow” is largely the tale of Dominika’s will to survive and break free of those who seek to own her.
Marginally intriguing at first, as it progresses, “Red Sparrow” becomes more and more familiar and rote; the predictable love story between Lawrence and Edgerton that ensues also lacks convincing chemistry. Decidedly R-rated with some frank, almost disarming nudity on the part of its star, Jennifer Lawrence’s young and mainstream fans are largely going to leave feeling dissatisfied.
Spy thrillers are often purposefully aloof but possess enough taut tension, anxiety, and paranoia to remain deeply engrossing. But the mysteriousness of Lawrence’s motivations backfire as the movie never really lets you in on her emotional interior life; at least not in any poignant or resonant manner. Because the movie is meant to keep you guessing on what crafty plan she’ll concoct next, it keeps the character at an emotional arm’s length from the viewer.
A movie about control and power, “Red Sparrow” just lacks insight and depth about its characters and subject. Worse, it confuses the importance of its main surprises. While the mole narrative is thorny and knotty, it’s little shock when Dominika –the more important personal element of the story – turns the tables on, and outwits all the players in the long game of chess. She’s always one “step ahead of everyone,” as one of the characters spoonfeeds the audience early on. Indeed, the seductress eventually manipulates the manipulators, but you knew this was coming from minute one and watching the “how it happened” journey just isn’t very absorbing.
More dull than egregious, “Red Sparrow” is by no means a categorically bad movie. It’s competently made, and it’s worth giving the filmmaker minor points for trying something new with a totally different tone that he’s attempted before. Unfortunately, he has no facility with creating credible tension or rousing, complex characterization. Jennifer Lawrence is meant to be the literal and figurative honeytrap of “Red Sparrow” — her celebrity will draw in unwitting audiences — but ultimately, the film lacks a stickiness to keep one sweetly engrossed and leaves the viewer with little more than a flavorless shrug. [C-]