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Jennifer Lawrence stars in this rather listless spy drama, weak on excitement but strong on torture and violence. Directed by Francis Lawrence and written by Justin Staythe, the film is based on a novel by Jason Matthews. The chief attraction is to be able to watch the star, sometimes looking bland, sometimes suffering, sometimes in action and—lo and behold—also baring it all.
Lawrence plays Dominika Egorova, a dancer in Moscow with the Bolshoi. An injury renders her unable to perform and dumps her into the clutches of her uncle Ivan (Matthias Schoenaerts), a master spy who gets her to join the Russian espionage machine with a promise to care for her ailing mother, played by Joely Richardson.
But before she can get into the action, Lawrence has some learning to do under a stern instructor played by Charlotte Rampling, always interesting to watch. Here Dominika learns to shamelessly use her body and provide sex for the cause. The scenes are voyeuristically featured—after all, it is Lawrence being exposed in service of her role and being trained in whorish ways.
Then off we go into all of the machinations and complications as Dominika is assigned to find a mole in the Russian apparatus. Others in the mix include Nate Nash (Joel Edgerton) as a C.I.A. chap and Jeremy Irons as a high-placed Russian general.
You have to pay attention to follow the intricacies and the double dealing, but mainly with your eyes on Lawrence as she struggles to come through it all. The film, with international locations, is a throwback to Cold War spy movies of old, and the effort to work up suspense is only intermittently successful. But there is always Lawrence. A 20th Century Fox release. Reviewed March 19, 2018.
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