Rating: 
Summary: TRULY INTRIGUING THEME WASTED BY WANDERING DIRECTION
Review: You truly cannot go wrong with a combination like Connery (who is instantly likeable) and Pfeifer (who is stunningly moving in her role as a working Russian mother of two). But despite what could have been a pretty gripping theme with unpredictable twists, this just ends up being a directorial mess. Another reviewer suggested that this ought to be viewed as a spy drama not a spy thriller. To me, that sounds like a poor excuse for story telling gone astray. Blair (Sean Connery) is a British publisher with a clear affinity for Russia, and has received a manuscript from Pfeifer's character, Katya, which he believes contains Soviet military secrets. The British intelligence SOMEHOW gets to know of this (will we ever know how and when) and Blair gets reluctantly involved in a plot to find out more about Katya and her associations. We are sort of made to feel on whose side Blair is on, and who the "bad guys" are (clue: CIA and the Queen's men of course) but my problem with the movie is it never really quite grabs you by the collar and drag you into the theme, or at least give the impression that anything terribly important is at stake. It starts, goes on and on with some guys doodling in a very CIA like fashion amidst some glorious shots of Moscow, and suddenly everything comes to an end with the bad guys left in the dust by a very cleverly hatched scheme by Blair and Katya -- so sinister a scheme indeed than even the audience is left bewildered. Yeah. While the movie sports some clever, even funny, moments, overall the narrative is boggling and wanders from concept to concept. Some directorial coherence for the audience would have been great. If the combination of Connery and Pfeifer intrigues you, especially a Russian accented Pfeifer, this may be worth a watch. Otherwise, a strangely intriguing movie.
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