Review – Eastern Promises

Cronenberg has done worse. The basic structure is a boring mob movie, and the fact that the gangsters are Russian rather than Italian doesn’t make it any more interesting. But Cronenberg’s lingering skill with gore helped spice things up a bit. Viggo Mortensen stars as a low-key factotum in the London branch of the Russian mob who gets too close to a midwife (Naomi Watts) who knows too much about their underage prostitution ring. The real draw for me, however, was the tattoo stuff. I find Russian prison tattoos fascinating, so I enjoyed the parts of the movie that focused on the meanings of various designs and their importance in the criminal subculture. A little blood and ink aren’t quite enough to make this a must-see, but at least they supplied some entertainment value. Mildly amusing