A disgraced member of the military police investigates a series of nasty child murders during the Stalin-era Soviet Union.
Director:
Daniel EspinosaWriters:
Richard Price (screenplay), Tom Rob Smith(novel)Stars:
Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Noomi RapaceStoryline
Based on the first of a trilogy by Tom Rob Smith and set in the Stalin era of the Soviet Union. The plot is about an idealistic pro-Stalin security officer who decides to investigate a series of child murders in a country where supposedly this sort of crime doesn't exist. The state would not hear of the existence of a child murderer let alone a serial killer. He gets demoted and exiled but decides, with just the help of his wife, to continue pursuing the case. Written by Arnold
User Reviews
WELL worth seeing (and more than once)
Banned in Russia? Yesterday, with just my sister and I in the audience in Rhode Island, I thought Child 44 had been banned in the US as well! What a shame..this is an engrossing movie that holds very true to Tom Rob Smith's novel (although the compelling storyline of Leo's own childhood was truncated to near oblivion, and the key subplot of Raisa's loyalties undeveloped). I went of course, because anything with both Tom Hardy and Gary Oldman (and that makes four films now) is well worth buying a ticket to, and the rest of the cast was sterling as well (Paddy Considine a bit wasted but you'll never see a better club foot shuffle). I can't heap enough praise on Tom. Did he once say he nailed his roles by first starting with the walk? Well, here he has a Forest Bondurant shamble with more plod that ideally captured a stolid man with no faith in where his next step would lead him. You can't encapsulate 75 years of soul sapping repression and brutality with one honest portrayal, but Tom so ably reflected the plight of the honest man under Stalinism that you are left with great admiration for the resilience of the Russian character, not just horror at the degree of institutionalized hypocrisy. This film should not be banned in Russia – it should be shown everywhere as a testimony to the nobility of human spirit that could survive Stalinism, whatever the psychological aftermath.
I saw at Rotten Tomatoes the caption "a thriller without thrills" and feel that is so unfair. It seems American critics, like the wider audience, can't bear a slower developing plot anymore. If there were "no murders" in the Soviet Union, there is equally no patience in the USA…we want ten murders a minute. Perhaps the trailers should have featured the fight scenes, because they were savage and visceral. All I can say is don't stay away because of what the reviews claim – this is a beautifully photographed film true to the novel, with amazing performances that will hit home the brutality of the era and the courage, cunning, and luck it took one individual to "beat" the system.
As for Tom Hardy – imo he is hands down the best actor of his generation. Hands down. His last few roles in films that were largely ignored indies, (the tour de force Locke with the Welsh accent, the small town wise guy noir, with the humble Jersey accent, and now Child 44, with his exaggerated Russian) were all masterful performances and he is building, building, building on a filmography that I hope someday soon is realized with the iconic roles he deserves.
I saw at Rotten Tomatoes the caption "a thriller without thrills" and feel that is so unfair. It seems American critics, like the wider audience, can't bear a slower developing plot anymore. If there were "no murders" in the Soviet Union, there is equally no patience in the USA…we want ten murders a minute. Perhaps the trailers should have featured the fight scenes, because they were savage and visceral. All I can say is don't stay away because of what the reviews claim – this is a beautifully photographed film true to the novel, with amazing performances that will hit home the brutality of the era and the courage, cunning, and luck it took one individual to "beat" the system.
As for Tom Hardy – imo he is hands down the best actor of his generation. Hands down. His last few roles in films that were largely ignored indies, (the tour de force Locke with the Welsh accent, the small town wise guy noir, with the humble Jersey accent, and now Child 44, with his exaggerated Russian) were all masterful performances and he is building, building, building on a filmography that I hope someday soon is realized with the iconic roles he deserves.
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