Russian Doll

Hugo Weaving, Sacha Horler and David Wenham, all fine actors, put in their usual standard performance, but it doesn't do much good with such a weak and implausible storyline. The whole thing hangs on the credibility of Katia, the title role. Natalia Novikova makes a huge effort, but I believe it's an impossible task.

Well, I was thoroughly pleased with "Russian Doll." Two main reasons: 1) Hugo Weaving (as Harvey) does a superb job as the disenchanted p.i. turned novelist, and 2) the plot was interestingly developed. There are a lot of good points to this movie. The most important is that it makes you laugh at all the right times. I watch this movie in the afternoon-time, not at night, because it's meant to be a fun, afternoon movie, not the main event for the night. (At night, you watch something like Lord of the Rings or Matrix to catch Mr. Weaving's fine acting.) Added bonus was David Wenham (Ethan), who I had never seen before, and he does a marvelous job with the character of Ethan, who is enduring an early mid-life crisis. (He's in LOTR- Faramir, you know.) So, all in all, I enjoyed this movie for what it was meant to be- a light-hearted romp to give you appreciation for your own life which should never be so complicated.

"Russian Doll" is a lackluster tale about a married Aussie man who is having an affair with a beautiful Russian woman whose visa is about to expire and talks his best friend into marrying her so she can continue to live in Australia. What could have been a cute romantic comedy built around an unoriginal plotline tries hard and has its moments but suffers from low-budgetness, a uninspired script, and a very plain and ordinary execution. The film is little more than a diversion for the needy sofa spud now on cable. (C-)

This is another cute little romantic comedy from Australia, `Greencard' meets `Notting Hill' with a little help from the brilliant Billy Wilder comedy of 1960, `The Apartment'. Why see it? Well, it has Hugh Weaving, he of the lugubrious features, as Harvey, a private investigator, who agrees to house his mate Ethan's Russian mistress Katia and later to marry her so she can stay in the country. The film also has Natalia Novikova, a recent NIDA graduate, who really fits the bill as the imported Russian sex goddess with all the chutzpah one would expect. Despite their incompatibility, Harvey and Katia fall for each other, as is always the case in this genre.

Ethan and Katia are both jewish, which brings in the films's other distinctive feature, the Russian jewish community of Sydney's eastern suburbs (Harvey on the other hand describes himself as a Catholic Atheist). Your correspondent happened to see this film a couple of weeks after it opened in a cinema in the area usually patronised by the under 25s and the small audience seemed to be middle-aged to elderly, and speaking a fair bit of Yiddish. I guess, since the film was made in and around Bondi, they had turned up to see how they and their friends looked as extras in the restaurant, party and wedding scenes.

I note most of the American critics hated this film, but I thought it worth seeing if only for Natalia Novikova as Katia. She is absolutely gorgeous and is going to have a hard time topping this performance. Hugo Weaving usually does villains (remember the Matrix?) and seemed a little uncomfortable even as a sad sack p. i. hero, but he makes it though OK. David Wenham, normally a truly brilliant actor, was a bit smug and colourless as Ethan the wife-cheater though Rebecca Frith made the most of her role as the cheated-upon wife. I also liked Sasha Horler as Katia's Russian friend who takes a shine to Harvey.

There is plenty of appropriate folk music and ethnic cuisine, and the whole thing is reasonably entertaining, if not at the cutting edge of Australian film-making. This is a `government film' (Australian Film Finance Corporation) and the producers have played pretty safe – musn't offend anyone when the taxpayer is paying– but romantic comedy is a pretty played-out genre, even with an ethnic slant. Creates employment I guess. Still, as usual Sydney photographs well (though the colour is a bit peculiar at times) and this film will not drive tourists away. A pity most Russians are too poor at present to make the journey.

This is a nice little easy watching, low effort movie. I had it on while doing some housework and it just flowed along nicely. Hugo Weaving is always good and very watchable. David Wenham is OK. The character of Katya is interesting and not too stereotypical (match making client not mail order bride or prostitute) and even better, she looked great in her sexy outfits and was not stick bandit thin, more like a real woman. The ending was perhaps a little clunky and the big gaps in the time line along the way (this happens at the start too) could perhaps be better emphasised with cinematic devices. All the same, worth getting out one day for an afternoon on the couch with some choccies or to keep an eye on while you're doing the ironing or cooking dinner somesuch.