A fairly decent off-shoot of the mobster movie genre. For the record, I hate most mob movies, so for me to like one that’s even remotely related to the genre is pretty high praise. This movie ain’t for the squeemish, with more than enough in a few scenes to easily earn its R rating.

Writing: The plot of the film is fairly simple, pieced together from many that have come before. It doesn’t break a whole lot of new ground, but it stays fresh enough to work. Putting the Russian spin on the subject helps make it feel somewhat unique.

Production: David Cronenberg has a varied enough directing history to be able to take on most anything. He employs his “less is more” approach to filming this story, avoiding much by way of flashy production. Most of the effort is on getting the gritty feel of the environment right.

Cast: There’s little doubt that the cast is the strongest aspect of the movie. I’m a fan of Naomi Watts, and she does a fine job here. Viggo Mortensen also does an excellent job, and the two play off each other rather well. And Armin Mueller-Stahl is very well cast as the seemingly warm and charming mob boss.

Music: Big surprise having Howard Shore doing the score. Or not. This is something along the lines of their 13th film together. As such, Shore does a good job matching the subject matter, playing things somewhat understated.