The Half Life of Timofey Berezin

I also came across this movie as I channel surfed. Didn't even know the name of it, but was fascinated by it's authenticity, being filmed behind the former Iron Curtain.

Russia has always been a paradox, in many ways a 3rd world nation, yet a military superpower. The themes it dealt with, the worthlessness of the individual, the carelessness of dealing with unbelievably dangerous substances in such an offhand way, the ass-covering behavior of bureaucrats, the stupidity of the Russian mafia, all are classic and well developed in the film. All are characteristic of Russia, yet this story could have happened anywhere. Really scares you to think that, given the bell curve of any group of humans, the nuclear genie is actually in the hands of such oafs.

Worth watching, worth talking and thinking about.

I had great expectations for this movie. The story was promising and I thought that the great Paddy Considine as the protagonist would mean a compelling execution.

This is basically two different movies edited together. One part is great, the other not so much.

There are some great scenes in the first half of the movie. But the script is honestly a terrible mashup. It starts as a heartfelt dramatic depiction of a family cast into great troubles but then out of nowhere appears a bunch of thugs that even Guy Richie cut out for being too ridiculous. Considine together with parts of the cast are great, doing the best of the disjointed and sometimes plain stupid script. However, not even he can save this movie.

The writer/director very much would have needed a producer that could tell him to get his stuff together. Trying to combine drama and stupid dark comedy doesn't work unless the director is a genius. Scott Z Burns is not a genius.

Also, please lose the stupid "russian" accents.

This is what Indie films are all about. An excellent flick, acting, plot, script, and all else very well done. On HBO this movie is billed as PU-239 so keep an eye out for it, but be careful what you inhale while watching it!

Having been a physics major I can state that as far as the science goes the movie is loyal. Science, however, is just background. This movie is really about the human spirit continually battling against despair; the human condition and the lengths we will go to kill one another and to love one another; human ignorance and human intelligence, but without humility, and the trouble it will get us all into; and "in the end, everything decays into lead", like bullets, and the fact that no one gets out alive.

I really liked the film. I am not sure if it is a Hollywood production or not, but it is giving the feeling of an European, even Russian film product. As a Bulgarian, and near to the type of living it is so true. there is no exaggeration, no overacting, no fake. The plot and the tone and the right high doze of sarcasm make you wait to see the next scene and the next and the next. I did feel the film very deeply. It is a film that will be somehow hard to be grasped by non-soviet block person. In fact this was and still is the reality - very well and interestingly depicted. It brings out the essence that we are humans, that we are weak and strong, that the system can crush you a lot, but still you are human. I would strongly to recommend this film to be watched

This movie was OK. It was not quite great, but interesting enough to be a bit above average. It starts out great, but then settles into a kind of blandness for the rest of the film.

Basically, the movie is about a man who is exposed to a lethal dose of radiation in a nuclear power plant in Russia. Knowing he is going to die soon, he absconds with a small amount of plutonium and attempts to sell it on the black market ... all to help provide for his family.

If the plot sounds interesting, the movie somehow drains the intensity out of it. The middle 90% of the movie is basically uneventful and focused on a slightly deranged mob-related fellow that the main character meets. More than anything, the movie depicts the degenerating state of affairs of two very different individuals who get linked up.

The movie is somewhat interesting and unusual, but I can't find a good reason to recommend it. If you end up watching it for a little while, just keep in mind, it won't get any better.