Critic Reviews
Eastern Promises (2007) Rank 3 Reviews
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IGN Movies (Stax)
Director David Cronenberg and his A History of Violence leading man Viggo Mortensen reteam for the crime drama Eastern Promises, which may strike some as the thinking man's Shoot 'Em Up. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at IGN Movies (Stax)
Not Coming to a Theater Near You (Chiranjit Goswami)
âBody. Singular.â These words reverberate with candor even while delivered curtly by our maternal heroine, Anna, as she corrects the grammar of her antiquated Russian grandfather. Deftly played by Naomi Watts, Anna serves as the viewerâs primary ves ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Not Coming to a Theater Near You (Chiranjit Goswami)
San Francisco Chronicle
A man sits in a London barber's chair in the first scene of "Eastern Promises," and because David Cronenberg directed the movie, the only question is exactly how he'll end up in a pool of blood. Cronenberg gives the audience just enough time to guess - ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at San Francisco Chronicle
The Movie Insider (Eight Legged Freaks)
Eastern Promises gives us a glimpse into Russian organized crime in London and what happens when an innocent person gets wrapped up in its seedy existence. Amazing visuals and beautiful acting make Eastern Promises worth seeing.
Anna Khitrova (Naomi ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at The Movie Insider (Eight Legged Freaks)
Horror.Com (Staci Layne Wilson)
David Cronenberg, the so-called 'King of Venereal Horror', has managed to subversively reinvent himself once again -- albeit in the form of Martin Scorsese, but I'm not complaining. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Horror.Com (Staci Layne Wilson)
Eye for Film (Anton Bitel)
Any movie that can elegantly and believably squeeze a birth and two deaths into the first five minutes has my attention; when itâs directed by David Cronenberg and shot with the unflinching muscularity of a top-of-his-game Scorsese, Iâm hooked. Add a ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Eye for Film (Anton Bitel)
Soundtrack.net
Nicola Benedetti's solo violin immediately presents Howard Shore's main theme to Eastern Promises, the latest film he has scored for long-time collaborator, director David Cronenberg. True to the setting of the film's story, the theme has an Eastern ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Soundtrack.net
Chicago Tribune (Geoff Berkshire)
The death of a teenage prostitute causes a British midwife (Naomi Watts) to search for answers within London's Russian mob, leading to a chain reaction of violence and betrayal involving the boss (Armin Mueller-Stahl), his son (Vincent Cassel) and the ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Chicago Tribune (Geoff Berkshire)
Christian Spotlight on the Movies
Movies like âEastern Promisesâ occupy something of a moral quagmire. We live on planet Earth, a world whichâaccording to St. Augustineâis ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Christian Spotlight on the Movies
Time Out (--)
David Cronenberg re-teams with his âHistory of Violenceâ star Viggo Mortensen for this London-set tale of the Russian Mafia, revolving around the sex trade. Extensive location shooting has included Hackneyâs Broadway ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Time Out (--)
Village Voice (J. Hoberman)
I've said it before and hope to again: David Cronenberg is the most provocative, original, and consistently excellent North American director of his generation. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Village Voice (J. Hoberman)
Wolf Entertainment Guide (William Wolf)
David Cronenbergâs suspenseful new film âEastern Promises,â a resounding hit at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival and winner of the Festivalâs coveted Peopleâs Choice Award, is now available to the public in general release and is lik ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Wolf Entertainment Guide (William Wolf)
Orlando Weekly (Cole Haddon)
Eastern Promises proves two things: First, director David Cronenberg knows how to end a movie better than just about anybody else in the business and, second, Viggo Mortensen is the greatest American actor that nobody in America cares about. Like their ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Orlando Weekly (Cole Haddon)
Daily Mirror [UK] (--)
A movie to make you avoid tattooed men in shades for the rest of your life, David Cronenbergâs latest effort is a gruesome and totally gripping affair, even if you may spend large chunks of it looking away from the screen.
Featuring fingers being ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Daily Mirror [UK] (--)
The Sydney Morning Herald
Eastern Promises begins with a graphic scene of someone having his throat cut - a revelation which will hardly surprise fans of the film's director, David Cronenberg. It's a long time since Cronenberg left horror movies behind for more expansive terrain ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at The Sydney Morning Herald
hoopla.nu
It seems appropriate that Viggo Mortensen - one of this generation's greatest exponents of the technique of method acting - should play a Russian in Eastern Promises, given the technique's origins as Stanislavski's 'system' in the early part of the 20th ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at hoopla.nu
When an unidentified 14-year-old drug addict dies giving birth,
her midwife Anna (played by Naomi Watts) is left holding the
baby. Anna needs to identify the dead girl and to find the
baby's family. But she has only what was in the dead ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at
Blackfilm.com
No one can execute violence on the big screen like David Cronenberg. Weâre not talking about the usual bang-em-up, shoot-em-up scenes weâve seen countless times where they become boring as body count adds up. If you happen to see his last film, âA ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Blackfilm.com
The Arizona Republic
From his early days as a horror auteur, David Cronenberg has been fascinated by what ravages can be inflicted upon the human body by vehicles, chemicals, infections, telekinesis and insect DNA. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at The Arizona Republic
CineScene.com (Chris Dashiell)
Eastern Promises, the latest film from David Cronenberg, is both an impeccably constructed thriller and a drama about the preservation of innocence in a fallen world. Similarities to Cronenberg triumph from last year, A History of Violence (both star ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at CineScene.com (Chris Dashiell)
Pop Syndicate (Stefan Halley)
David Cronenberg is back with another great film, even if it is a bit of a step in a different direction. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Pop Syndicate (Stefan Halley)
PopMatters (Bill Gibron)
Cronenberg isn't out to explore that particular narrative thread. Indeed, many of the standard crime story motifs that have come to define the cinematic category are completely ignored by this wonderful film... ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at PopMatters (Bill Gibron)
AfterElton.com (Brian Juergens)
Brutal, but not cruel. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at AfterElton.com (Brian Juergens)
Jam! Movies (Bruce Kirkland)
Like A History of Violence , David Cronenberg's brilliant new film goes far beyond its thriller genre. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Jam! Movies (Bruce Kirkland)
Movies for Guys
David Cronenberg used to make horror films that were ickier than other people's horror ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Movies for Guys
Just Press Play
In Britain, perhaps nobody else garner viler whispers than Eastern European gangsters, especially with their reputation as human traffickers. Eastern Promises depicts this seedy underground of immigrants as scripted by Steve Knight, writer of another ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Just Press Play
ShowBIZ Data
The film is drawing high praise from critics. In the Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert commented that with Promises Cronenberg has emerged into "the top rank of directors." Acceding to Cronenberg's request to critics not to give away the plot, Ebert ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at ShowBIZ Data
Austin Chronicle (Marc Savlov)
It's Cronenberg's film, but it's the actors who elevate Eastern Promises from mere thriller to some other, more disturbing plane... ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Austin Chronicle (Marc Savlov)
Monsters and Critics (Ron Wilkinson)
A mysterious crime family with smoldering secrets plays with sharp objects off the slimy backwaters of the Thames. Cronenberg and Mortensen are at it again, with relish! ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Monsters and Critics (Ron Wilkinson)
Future Movies (Coco Forsythe)
A late-night chemist is a pool of light in a shabby high street in a part of London unknown to Richard Curtis; a junkie stumbles in, clutching her pregnant belly and asking for help. The chemist brusquely tells her that he cannot give her methodone ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Future Movies (Coco Forsythe)
Austin Chronicle (Marc Savlov)
No one does corruption like David Cronenberg. Whether it's the venereal metaphors of his early work (Shivers, Rabid) or the through-the-looking-glass, AIDS-esque horrors of The Fly or even the subtler moral conflagrations of 2005's A History of Violence, ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Austin Chronicle (Marc Savlov)
thelondonpaper (Stuart McGurk)
An orgy of slit throats, lopped digits and a naked fight scene that will tattoo itself on to your brain. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at thelondonpaper (Stuart McGurk)
Metromix.com (Geoff Berkshire)
An unforgettable bathhouse brawl immediately takes a place among Cronenberg's best and most outrageous sequences (and with this director, that's really saying something). ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Metromix.com (Geoff Berkshire)
Empire Movies (Brendan Cullin)
Eastern Promises is director David Cronenberg's most recent piece of work and undoubtedly one of his finest. Naomi Watts stars as Anna, a London nurse who stumbles across a diary that contains some damning evidence against some Russian mobsters. Her ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Empire Movies (Brendan Cullin)
eFilmCritic.com (Jay Seaver)
Where Violence was firmly centered on Mortensen's character, Promises is more an ensemble piece. The first major player we meet is Anna (Naomi Watts), a midwife who recovers a diary from a woman who died during childbirth. It's in Russian, and when her ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at eFilmCritic.com (Jay Seaver)
Total Film (Neil Smith)
Like the Borscht served on Semyons Trans-Siberian menu, Promises is filling, flavoursome and full of dead meat. Thanks to its compelling story and a powerful performance by Mortensen, its also as hard to shake off as one of Nikolais tattoos. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Total Film (Neil Smith)
ViewLondon (Matthew Turner)
Set in London, Eastern Promises stars Naomi Watts as Anna Khitrova, a midwife with a Russian family background but no knowledge of the language. When she delivers the baby of a pregnant 14-year-old, she's compelled to investigate after the mother dies in ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at ViewLondon (Matthew Turner)
ReelzChannel (Thomas Leupp)
Two years ago David Cronenberg's A History of Violence, the first collaboration between the cult director and actor Viggo Mortensen, went largely unnoticed by the Academy and mainstream audiences alike, despite near-universal praise from critics. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at ReelzChannel (Thomas Leupp)
BBC (David Jones)
An instant cult classic. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at BBC (David Jones)
Sky Movies (Tim Evans)
The immigrant experience takes on a blacker-than-black hue in director David Cronenberg's masterful tale of Russian mafiosa in London. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Sky Movies (Tim Evans)
Film Threat, Hollywood's Indie Voice
With America's well-documented love for movie violence, it's a bit surprising there havenât there been more films about the Russian Mafia. I mean, the traditional mob has a rich cinematic tradition; everything from âThe Godfatherâ to...âThe Black ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Film Threat, Hollywood's Indie Voice
Sun Online (--)
The David Cronenberg-directed movie which caused outrage this week after being passed uncut by the censors does not leave anything to the imagination when it comes to death. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Sun Online (--)
filmcritic.com (Chris Cabin)
We're in London and the streets look like they are owned and operated by Beelzebub himself. The ghosts of the KGB death squads loom in the distance, but the Russian crime syndicate's stranglehold over the hoods and alleys is as strong as ever. Out of one ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at filmcritic.com (Chris Cabin)
Salt Lake Tribune (Sean Means)
Mortensen, lean and muscular and moving like a prowling tiger, gives a subtle portrayal of a man struggling with his conscience. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Salt Lake Tribune (Sean Means)
Scene-Stealers.com (Eric Melin)
It is not the histrionics that keep us hooked. What lingers long after the movie has ended are the characters. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Scene-Stealers.com (Eric Melin)
Seacoast Newspapers (NH/Maine) (Gina Carbone)
For all his three-dimensional humanism, it's clear Cronenberg likes his men to get their hands dirty and enjoys watching small-boned women dish out sass. In short, everyone in a Cronenberg film has to have the same kind of balls he does or they won't make ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Seacoast Newspapers (NH/Maine) (Gina Carbone)
TV Guide's Movie Guide (Maitland McDonagh)
An icily seductive parable about family, power, unconventional justice and the perils of answered prayers. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at TV Guide's Movie Guide (Maitland McDonagh)
Detroit Free Press (Terry Lawson)
Eastern Promises is a straightforward, straight-up Russian gangster movie whose primary achievement is making the Russian gangster underworld feel exotic and menacing. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Detroit Free Press (Terry Lawson)
Worcester Telegram & Gazette (Daniel M. Kimmel)
...a powerful, well-done film that will not be to every taste. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Worcester Telegram & Gazette (Daniel M. Kimmel)
Kansas City Star (Robert W. Butler)
Mortensens work is so good that youll want to go back and see Eastern Promises a second time just to appreciate the way he plays us. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Kansas City Star (Robert W. Butler)
Sacramento Bee (Carla Meyer)
Even though Eastern Promises inhabits a creepy world, Cronenberg fans still might be reluctant to leave it. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Sacramento Bee (Carla Meyer)
Raging Bull Movie Reviews (Mike Lorefice)
Inner turmoil may have a physical manifestation depending upon the genre David Cronenberg chooses to work in, but the director consistently mines the depths of the very complicated and contradictory beings known as humans. Cronenbergâs films of the ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Raging Bull Movie Reviews (Mike Lorefice)
Charlotte Weekly (Sean O'Connell)
A gritty, shocking and darkly entertaining crime thriller that coats its action with a layer of barrel-bottom sleaze. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Charlotte Weekly (Sean O'Connell)
Ruthless Reviews
Is there anything on earth more repugnant than a Russian? Between Stalin, Hitler, and a bucket full of czars, at least 100 million were slaughtered and sent back to the stinking soil from whence they came, but still they wouldnât go the way of the ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Ruthless Reviews
Brad Laidman: Elvis Needs Boats
Let me admit up front that coming after David Cronenberg and Viggo Mortensenâs masterwork, A History of Violence, maybe my expectations were a bit too high, but I have to say that Eastern Promises left me a little antsy and bored. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Brad Laidman: Elvis Needs Boats
Leader Newspapers, New Jersey (Kam Williams)
Exploring an array of themes ranging from love and betrayal to morality and mortality, Eastern Promises is a mesmerizing thriller designed for folks with a penchant for lingering depictions of utter depravity. Sheer brutality as cinematic beauty. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Leader Newspapers, New Jersey (Kam Williams)
Capital Times (Madison, WI) (Rob Thomas)
"Promises" is a solid, involving crime thriller elevated by some quintessentially Cronenbergian touches, but it's not a truly disturbing Cronenberg experience like "A History of Violence" or "Spider." ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Capital Times (Madison, WI) (Rob Thomas)
Flak Magazine (James Norton)
For millions of Americans, Eastern Promises is more than just a movie; it's a unique opportunity to gaze upon Viggo Mortenson's junk flying around a London bathhouse. But to concentrate upon the film's signature naked fight scene â a taut triumph of ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Flak Magazine (James Norton)
Cinepinion (Henry Stewart)
The story is a bit unfocused, offering the viewer no way in and nothing to hold on to... Eastern Promises leaves you out in the rain from frame one. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Cinepinion (Henry Stewart)
NewsBlaze (Kam Williams)
Exploring an array of themes ranging from love and betrayal to morality and mortality, Eastern Promises is a mesmerizing thriller designed for folks with a penchant for lingering depictions of utter depravity. Sheer brutality as cinematic beauty. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at NewsBlaze (Kam Williams)
WaffleMovies.com (Willie Waffle)
it is the violence that stands out (in a good way). ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at WaffleMovies.com (Willie Waffle)
Kalamazoo Gazette (James Sanford)
extremely violent and richly atmospheric... culminates in an electrifying scene that's destined to be discussed by movie fans for years. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Kalamazoo Gazette (James Sanford)
Mr. Brown's Movies (Michael Dequina)
David Cronenberg tells a story of the Russian mob in London as only he can--indeed, with ample doses of brutal, bloody, extreme violence. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Mr. Brown's Movies (Michael Dequina)
San Antonio Express-News (Larry Ratliff)
A note to Oscar: You haven't noticed yet, but there's this guy up in Canada named Cronenberg. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at San Antonio Express-News (Larry Ratliff)
Film Experience (Nathaniel Rogers)
If ...Violence was Cronenberg's gift to Viggo Mortensen, unlocking the greatness of the rising star, consider this the actor's return favor. He's mesmerizing. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Film Experience (Nathaniel Rogers)
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) (John Beifuss)
As exactingly wrought as an anatomical diagram or one of Mortensen's symbolic tattoos, 'Eastern Promises' celebrates the wonder, power and fragility of the human body, from infancy to death. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) (John Beifuss)
Philadelphia Inquirer (Carrie Rickey)
One Christmas morning in London, Anna (Naomi Watts), a midwife, delivers a baby girl while its mother hemorrhages to death. Inside the departed's handbag is a diary, scribbled in Russian, and a business card for a restaurant called the ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Philadelphia Inquirer (Carrie Rickey)
Slate (Dana Stevens)
David Cronenberg's elegant treatise on the metaphysics of violence, begins with twin jets of blood: A man in a barber's chair has his throat cut by a mentally deficient would-be gangster, while elsewhere in London, a teenager in labor begs for help in a ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Slate (Dana Stevens)
The Onion A.V. Club
Forced to clean up someone else's sloppy hit jobâin the first of several beyond-disturbing moments of London gangland violence in David Cronenberg's Eastern PromisesâViggo Mortensen's slickly coiffed gangster goes about the job with cool, professional ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at The Onion A.V. Club
RopeofSilicon (Brad Brevet)
Eastern Promises has a feel to it that you would think director David Cronenberg is attempting to create his very own Godfather trilogy. Howard Shore's original score definitely adds to the mood and the emphasis on family is what gives this movie a ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at RopeofSilicon (Brad Brevet)
cinemattraction (Martin Tsai)
The biggest surprise in Eastern Promises isnât grotesque graphic violence, a peek at Viggo Mortensenâs naughty bits, or a cleaver plot twist. For David Cronenberg fans, it would be the fact that the auteurâs latest is so reminiscent of his last outi ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at cinemattraction (Martin Tsai)
Flipside Movie Emporium (Rob Vaux)
We've seen plenty of Irish and Italian gangsters in the movies, but comparatively few Russians. With the fall of the Iron Curtain, criminal organizations centered on ex-Soviet immigrants have grown to frightening proportions, yet few motion pictures have ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Flipside Movie Emporium (Rob Vaux)
Indiewire
Filmed in burnished yellows that alternate between the sickly pallor of death and the glossily seductive underworld of organized crime, David Cronenberg's "Eastern Promises" is all about surfaces. Those of his characters, their clothes and skin, as well ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Indiewire
Groucho Reviews (Peter Canavese)
Eastern Promises ' unusually ambiguous character study makes for a different kind of crime drama, a striking if not entirely satisfying one. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Groucho Reviews (Peter Canavese)
San Diego Union-Tribune (David Elliott)
As steeped in Russian flavors as a hot samovar, this fast, compelling story is also oddly Dickensian in its shadowy corners and twists. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at San Diego Union-Tribune (David Elliott)
New York Daily News
David Cronenberg, a director who rarely visits the same genre twice in a row, has done just that with "Eastern Promises," a riveting followup to his 2005 thriller "A History of ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at New York Daily News
USA Today (Claudia Puig)
Though brutal mayhem in a steam bath involving a nude Viggo Mortensen is what has people talking, Eastern Promises has a compelling story and strong performances to ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at USA Today (Claudia Puig)
Slant Magazine
Eastern Promises is a straighter version of Inland Empire, which is not to say that it isn't totally queer. David Cronenberg's new film is the story of a woman in trouble: Anna Khitrova (Naomi Watts), a London midwife who becomes obsessed with finding ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Slant Magazine
Toronto Star (Geoff Pevere)
Viggo Mortensen turns 50 next year, and he's one of those movie actors whom you want to see age. There's a menace that lurks beneath the surface of Mortensen's cool, taut exterior and it never comes as any surprise when it spills over and scalds ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Toronto Star (Geoff Pevere)
The Globe and Mail
Here, Cronenberg takes his keen nose for violence to London, where the Russian mob is running amok â slit throats, drugged prostitutes, heroin imported from Kabul, diaries with dirty secrets, not to mention the taciturn Nikolai (Viggo Mortensen), a man ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at The Globe and Mail
Film Journal International (Doris Toumarkine)
With stylish oddities like The Fly, Dead Ringers and A History of Violence, among others, behind him, David Cronenberg re-teams here with History co-star Viggo Mortensen and collars Dirty Pretty Things screenwriter Steve Knight for a highly entertaining ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Film Journal International (Doris Toumarkine)
Los Angeles Times (Carina Chocano)
David Cronenberg has always had something to say about the grotesque transformations that result when science and technology transgress the flesh, and the ensuing social breakdown. But there was a time when he spoke about it in the language of ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Los Angeles Times (Carina Chocano)
Twitch (Michael Guillen)
Last year I attended the Toronto International Film Festival as a civilian. This year the lines of my hexagram have shifted from âDifficulty at the Beginningâ to âPerseverance.â Attending pre-festival screenings offered by local Bay Area publicist ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Twitch (Michael Guillen)
Reeling Reviews (Robin and Laura Clifford)
A pregnant young woman enters a London pharmacy and, in heavily accented English, pleads for help before hemorrhaging and passing out. She is rushed to the hospital; too late to save her, but midwife Anna Khitrova (Naomi Watts) delivers the baby, alive. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Reeling Reviews (Robin and Laura Clifford)
Planet Sick-Boy (Jon Popick)
David Cronenberg's latest is, like A History of Violence, about a character played by Viggo Mortensen who is capable of kicking all manner of ass, yet chooses not to until his back is squarely up against the wall. This time, Mortensen is Nikolai, the ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Planet Sick-Boy (Jon Popick)
MovieFreak.com (Sara M. Fetters)
An arresting marvel of storytelling and substance, this pitch black parable of history, tradition, family and vengeance is a hard-core thriller ranking amongst this director's very best. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at MovieFreak.com (Sara M. Fetters)
Sun Publications (Chicago, IL) (Josh Larsen)
...doesn't have the mythical pull of A History of Violence , yet Cronenberg is too accomplished and clever of a filmmaker to let this gangster tale seem rote. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Sun Publications (Chicago, IL) (Josh Larsen)
Washington Post (Desson Thomson)
Eastern Promises , a chilly character thriller set in the Russian underworld of London, has elements of murder mystery and gangster melodrama. But in director David Cronenberg's hands, it's a search for moral bearing in a dark and desperate world. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Washington Post (Desson Thomson)
Creative Loafing (Matt Brunson)
Full of whispery menace, marked by probing studies of masculinity at its extreme boundaries, punctuated with bursts of sexual and violent excess, and coping with an abrupt ending. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Creative Loafing (Matt Brunson)
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
It could have been epic, this tale of Russian mobsters prowling the London underworld. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Newark Star-Ledger (Stephen Whitty)
[Cronenberg's] most straightforward and accessible movie since The Fly. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Newark Star-Ledger (Stephen Whitty)
Reel Film Reviews (David Nusair)
Coming on the heels of 2005's A History of Violence, Eastern Promises certainly feels like an apt follow-up for director David Cronenberg - as the film possesses a number of similarities to its forebearer, including an ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Reel Film Reviews (David Nusair)
Los Angeles Daily News (Glenn Whipp)
While the film falls short of Cronenberg's best, it still boasts Mortensen's authoritative acting and extraordinary commitment to the material. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Los Angeles Daily News (Glenn Whipp)
The Miami Herald (Rene Rodriguez)
At one point in Eastern Promises, the soft-spoken Russian mobster Nikolai turns to his guest and says ''Now I'm going to do his teeth and cut off his fingers. You might want to leave the ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at The Miami Herald (Rene Rodriguez)
The Globe and Mail
A knife slices through a man's throat, a child issues from a mother's womb and the blood mingles, the blood of birth and death. From these early frames, and most everything that follows, it ain't hard to guess we're in classic David Cronenberg territory. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at The Globe and Mail
Palo Alto Weekly (Jeanne Aufmuth)
Viggo Mortensen chews it up and spits it out as the corrupt centerpiece of maverick director David Cronenberg's searing mob thriller. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Palo Alto Weekly (Jeanne Aufmuth)
Ebert & Roeper (Richard Roeper)
Its a very, very strong film, [but] a little tough to watch sometimes. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Ebert & Roeper (Richard Roeper)
Christian Science Monitor (Peter Rainer)
David Cronenberg's Eastern Promises plays like a companion piece to his overrated A History of Violence. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Christian Science Monitor (Peter Rainer)
Chicago Tribune (Michael Phillips)
While Eastern Promises works overall on more of a low, insinuating simmer, it's one of Cronenberg's most satisfying pictures. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Chicago Tribune (Michael Phillips)
Richmond Times-Dispatch
"Eastern Promises" has an odd double effect on viewers. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Richmond Times-Dispatch
Antagony & Ecstasy (Tim Brayton)
Feels, except for a few choice moments, like the work of a slightly bored craftsman phoning it in. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Antagony & Ecstasy (Tim Brayton)
ReelTalk Movie Reviews (Jeffrey Chen)
As Cronenberg's primary vehicle, Mortensen makes the show his own. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at ReelTalk Movie Reviews (Jeffrey Chen)
www.susangranger.com (Susan Granger)
"The naked bathhouse fight is perhaps the most eagerly anticipated scene in this brutal Cronenberg thriller - but there's more to it than that." ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at www.susangranger.com (Susan Granger)
Window to the Movies (Jeffrey Chen)
Screenwriter Steve Knight presents Eastern Promises as a sister piece to his script for Dirty Pretty Things -- both are about immigrants who made their way to London looking for opportunities, only to become trapped in the city's seedy underworld. In ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Window to the Movies (Jeffrey Chen)
Tiscali UK
David Cronenberg is on sombre and violent form in Eastern Promises, his second consecutive collaboration with Viggo Mortensen (after 2005's A History of Violence) and the first film of his penned by British screenwriter Steve Knight.
Knight's first ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Tiscali UK
Film School Rejects (H. Stewart)
Eastern Promises opens in the rainââ¬âoh, David Cronenbergâs in London again. This time, though, instead of dealing with the mentally ill and the ghosts that haunt them, as he did in Spider, he takes on the Russians, both assimilated, in the form of ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Film School Rejects (H. Stewart)
Christianity Today (Jeffrey Overstreet)
In his severity, Cronenberg disrupts the audience's immersion in a story that might have become a landmark tale of corruption and conscience... ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Christianity Today (Jeffrey Overstreet)
World Socialist Web Site
Eastern Promises is the follow-up to veteran Canadian director David Cronenbergâs A History Of Violence. Both are films working in and around the gangster movie genre, unusual for a director best known for his horror and science fiction films, and both ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at World Socialist Web Site
Cinematical (Ryan Stewart)
Another gory mafia story from David Cronenberg, this time set not in America's heartland but in the Russian immigrant community of London. Eastern Promises stars Viggo Mortensen as a limo driver and hired muscle for the mob whose life gets very ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Cinematical (Ryan Stewart)
Daily Mail [UK] (Christopher Tookey)
David Cronenberg's use of violence in his movies has often been, to put it politely, questionable.
Most of his earliest films - from The Brood to Dead Ringers - display a barely disguised sadism.
In Crash, he took a deliberately non-judgmental, yet ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Daily Mail [UK] (Christopher Tookey)
CinemaZone.dk
Ikke siden eXistenZ i 1999 har David Cronenberg selv stået for manuskriptet til en spillefilm, og det er faktisk bemærkelsesværdigt for instruktøren, der efter mange år som auteur for en meget dedikeret, men overskuelig fanskare, siden årtusindeskif ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at CinemaZone.dk
E! Online (Alex Markerson)
As bloody good as parts of Eastern Promises are, as a whole it's a bloody mess. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at E! Online (Alex Markerson)
Daily Telegraph (Sukhdev Sandhu)
What a treasure trove for filmmakers is contemporary London. There is a Mayor eager to welcome outsiders who might shine a pre-Olympics spotlight on the city he has sought to modernise and re-brand, tax breaks to be had, and even companies that will help ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Daily Telegraph (Sukhdev Sandhu)
Financial Times (Karl French)
David Cronenberg is one of the great indie auteurs of late-20th-century North American cinema, his work dredged from some of the creepier recesses of his subconscious. He has always been highly prolific, and now the flawed but fascinating and chilling ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Financial Times (Karl French)
Movie City News (David Poland)
As I watched Eastern Promises, I first heard the authorage of Steve Knight (formerly credited as Steven Knight). My experience with his voice as a screenwriter comes from Dirty Pretty Things, an excellent and underrated film from 2002. And like Eastern ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Movie City News (David Poland)
The Movie Boy (Dustin Putman)
"Eastern Promises" is director David Cronenberg's second bid in a row for attaining mainstream success, and is most certainly a better film in almost every way than 2005's shallow, criminally overrated "A History of Violence." Of course, coming from a ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at The Movie Boy (Dustin Putman)
When an unidentified 14-year-old drug addict dies giving birth, her midwife Anna (played by Naomi Watts) is left holding the baby. Anna needs to identify the dead girl and to find the baby's family. But she has only what was in the dead girl's pockets ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at
Reel.com
Deservedly praised for their work on the masterfully spare A History of Violence (2005), David Cronenberg and Viggo Mortensen reunite to frustratingly lesser effect with Eastern Promises, a dramatically shortchanged thriller written by Steve Knight (the ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Reel.com
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
That David Cronenberg's last film "A History of Violence" and his latest film "Eastern Promises" star a newly and surprisingly versatile Viggo Mortensen is only the most obvious parallel between them. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"An intricate tale of London's Russian emigre underworld, with brief, brutal moments of extreme violence." ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Baltimore Sun (Michael Sragow)
... Eastern Promises is intensely anti-dramatic. ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Baltimore Sun (Michael Sragow)
Beyond Hollywood
Given that âEastern Promisesâ is a David Cronenberg film, one shouldnât be entirely surprised that it opens with a vicious throat slashing and a fourteen year old girl hemorrhaging in a drug store. The girl in question dies soon after while giving b ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at Beyond Hollywood
The Phantom Tollbooth
Under the top layer of civility, white tablecloths and rose petals on cakes lies a cross-current of violence, revenge and hatred. David Cronenberg and Steve Knight have gotten it right. You never know what is going on behind the kitchen door in Eastern ...read the complete Eastern Promises movie review at The Phantom Tollbooth
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