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A Foreign Affair (2003)
A Foreign Affair: Offensive, Misogynistic
Tim Nelson Blake and David Arquette play two asexual brothers, who after the death of their Mother/housekeeper, decide to go on a bachelor tour to Russia to find a replacement.
In Russia, the brothers meet the stereotypical, cardboard cut, vodka swigging Russian characters. The Russians are merely pushed aside in this story as second or even third class citizens while the superior Westerners go about their cherry picking.
After Tim Blake has turned down every advance from gorgeous women and shown no interest in a relationship, you can't understand why he went to Russia in the first place. There are plenty of cheap illegals working as housekeepers in LA. He could have booked a trip on greyhound.
Instead we are treated to a nauseating hour of Blake going through his highlighted list and his "unfunny" attempts of assigning women numbers.
Emily Mortimer appears not as a Russian looking for love and a green card, but as a British investigative reporter doing a story on these tours. Her Russian is quite good and she could have played a Russian love interest. But then again, this film is not about love. It is about finding a maid.
David Arquette's character turns out to be a little more human. He warms up to the Russian ladies and scores with a few. But none of the relationships are serious. It is all tongue and cheek, like a frat party.
Instead of delving into the various reasons why these men and women join these tours, the film makers simply provide the superficial reasons, the American men want sex, and the Russian women want green cards. The real popularity of these tours stem in part because they offer our pill popping generation a quick fix solution for love and poverty.
On the positive side, David Arquette and Emily Mortimer give good performances. Blake is credible, but his character is highly unlikable. Larry Pine does a fantastic job as the greasy tour director. For a low budget film, the cinematography is quite good.
Don't waste your time with this trash. Story is weak and stupid. Offensive to women and Russians everywhere.