SEDUCTIVE. DECEPTIVE. DEADLY.Â
When a Russian ballerina (Jennifer Lawrence) breaks her leg during a performance, she’s recruited by her uncle (Matthias Schonaerts) to become a ”sparrow” – an undercover agent who uses her body to trap targets. The lauded novel was written by a former CIA agent with insight into Soviet intelligence, but this adaptation doesn’t transmit the same kind of credibility and John le Carré-type atmosphere. Sex and violence play huge parts, but so do the ”sparrow’s” sensitive relationships with her mother, uncle and an American agent. Lawrence is ideal in the lead; overlong but engaging intrigues in a world where the Cold War never ended.
2018-U.S. 140 min. Color. Widescreen. Directed by Francis Lawrence. Novel: Jason Matthews. Music: James Newton Howard. Cast: Jennifer Lawrence (Dominika Egorova), Joel Edgerton (Nate Nash), Matthias Schonaerts (Ivan Vladimirovich Egorova), Charlotte Rampling, Mary-Louise Parker, Ciarán Hinds… Joely Richardson, Jeremy Irons.
Trivia: Darren Aronofsky and David Fincher allegedly considered directing the movie.