El niño 44

'CHILD 44': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

A mystery thriller film; starring Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace and Gary Oldman. Hardy plays a security officer, that's investigating a child murderer, in 1950s (Stalin era) Soviet Union. The film was directed by Daniel Espinosa and written by Richard Price; it's based on the novel, of the same name, by Tom Rob Smith (the first of a trilogy of books). It also costars Joel Kinnaman, Vincent Cassel and Jason Clarke. The movie was a bomb at the box office, and got mostly negative reviews from critics, but I enjoyed it.

Leo Demidov (Hardy) is a former war hero, that now works as an MGB agent, in the 1950s Soviet Union. He's a strong supporter of Stalin, and his country's ideals, but when a series of children start turning up dead, his loyalty is put to the test; being that murder is not supposed to exist there (it's believed to be only a capitalism crime). When his partner's son is killed, he refuses to go along with the government's cover-up (of the crime), and he's exiled; along with his wife (Rapace). Despite their treatment, Leo continues to pursue the killer, and justice.

The movie is well directed, written and full of great performances; especially Tom Hardy (my favorite male actor). Some people have a problem with the fact that the actors all speak English, in the film, but with Russian accents; that didn't bother me. I actually like the characters (especially Hardy's) and the insightful political commentary of those times; I found the movie to be quite involving as well. Maybe one of the main problems, with the film, is that the first cut was 5.5 hours long; and now it's less than 2.5 hours. It's a lot of story, and character development, crammed into one movie. The film is actually pretty fast paced too, it just doesn't quite come together right. I still enjoyed it though.

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I watched this film with a definite unease, having read the description of the film I didn't find it hugely appealing, just because of the subject matter, which is particularly dark, but because Mr Hardy is in it, I had to watch it. They managed to take us back to Stalin's Russia, we see a brief glimpse of how tough life was for people back then, those poor people were living in horrendous conditions. The story in brief, The State have turned Russia into a Paradise, crime simply isn't possible, and the thought of a child killer unthinkable, but when young boys are being found murdered along the train tracks the unthinkable is happening. Security Officer Leo Demidov is disgraced, but believes a Serial killer is to blame, and despite the vast obstacles the state puts in place, he sets out to find the killer. Tom Hardy (of course) and Gary Oldman are particularly brilliant, and there are also wonderful performances from Paddy Considine and Petr Vanek and many others. As I've mentioned it is quite harrowing matter, but it's not overly done, mercifully the scenes aren't that gory, it could have been dreadfully overdone. I eagerly anticipate the next instalment. 9/10

This is a movie I've kept my eye on ever since it was revealed. Tom Hardy and Gary Oldman are two of my favorite working actors, and having them co-lead a Russian serial killer film seemed like a slam dunk. Unfortunately, Child 44 is not the slam dunk it could have been. It has the talent, it has the story (based on the best-selling novel); all the ingredients necessary for greatness are there. But it also has a plethora of baggage that bogs it down to mediocrity.

Tom Hardy is the star of the film through and through. It's a story about his family life and professional life clashing over the case of a dead child. The officials want to pass it off as a train accident, but witnesses swear that it was a homicide. As more and more bodies start turning up and the higher-ups continue to look away, it's up to Hardy to find the killer and bring him to justice. Again, the acting in this film is great, as is the story. The problem is the way it's presented. Half of the movie is focused on the serial killer angle and Hardy's character going through the loops of finding the right person to help him on the case, and the other half is about Soviet officials exiling his family and stripping him of power for his disobedience. The way these stories intertwine is messy and confusing, for a number of reasons.

For starters, the tone is all over the place. What should be a dark, gloomy mystery among the cold streets of Soviet Russia ends up as a haphazardly arranged domestic dispute due to political interference with a child murderer lurking around somewhere. There's no time for momentum to build when it's constantly changing course. Gary Oldman being billed a co-lead is a huge stretch. He's in the movie for about 20 minutes total and his character doesn't do much to further the story. Mind you, it's Gary Oldman so he gives a fine performance, but as someone who was looking forward to Hardy and Oldman sharing the scene for two plus hours, I was disappointed to say the least.

And then there's the practical aspect. Hardy and Oldman are accent chameleons, there's no doubt about that. I didn't even know Oldman was British until I saw him in an interview. But why on earth are these Russian soldiers speaking to each other in English? For a wider audience no doubt, but it's such a basic matter of common sense that it bugged me continuously throughout the film. It's also far too long. A serial killer hunt stretched over the course of two hours and 15 minutes is exhausting. The tension becomes less and less dire as the movie progresses until you're just waiting for it to end.

Child 44 isn't a bad movie, but its flaws are glaring. It's not the dark, edgy thriller you'd expect. In fact, to call it a thriller would be a misnomer. Child 44 is a tone-deaf political drama filled to the brim with wasted potential.

Child 44 isn't the movie you watch for light entertainment. It is gritty and tough, and I found myself feeling a sense of absolute disgust for anyone and anything connected with the old school communist state in the USSR. It really makes you look at just how bad that system was and how monstrous the people were who enforced it on the general populace. Nonetheless, the story is compelling, although sometimes the thread jumps around a bit. Tom Hardy's performance was his best ever. I think he warrants an Academy for it. Noomi Rapace was excellent - very authentic in her role. Child 44 is a dark thriller - and without giving anything away, the build up and hatred toward the serial killer really sticks you to this movie - you simply want the killer to get the most gruesome death conceivable for what he does. Apart from the Hollywood aspect, this film depicts reality. This is how life existed under Communism and I think that message is just as compelling and important as the rest of the story - because it really depicted the terror and the suppression that millions of people lived under in the name of some douche bag's idea of "ideology". May Stalin forever lay dead and remembered for only one thing - he was a murdering asshole. Watch the film folks - I notice that the ratings were low, and I think that is an unfair assessment about the quality of this production.

The fair portrait of last years of Stalin reign can be the basic virtue of this very special film.

It is special for acting and for inspired storytelling.

In same measure, for atmosphere and for the levels of story.

For great work of Tom Hardy and for the inspired end.

For moral kicks to real punches, for unrealism of a fist of scenes, well used in context of story, for the image of fragility of emotions, for the sketches of fear and cruelty, for the back ground and for the roots of evil. Short, just special.