Writer: Scott B Smith (Screenplay) Stephen Hamal, Scott B Smith (Story)
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Ana Ularu, Molly Ringwald, Pasha D Lychnikoff
Plot: When an American diamond trader’s Russian partner goes missing, he journeys to Siberia in search of him, but instead begins a love affair.
Tagline – This was not the plan.
Runtime: 1 Hour 44 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Lacklustre Thriller Waiting for a Sting
Story: Siberia starts when American diamond trader Lucas Hill (Reeves) loses contact with his partner Pyotr (Gulyarin) he must head to Russia to figure out just what went wrong, meeting with his client Boris Volkov (Lychnikoff) he has two days to locate the diamonds who face drastic consequences.
Lucas finds himself in a small town waiting for contact where he meets the locals including café owner Katya (Ularu) who takes a shine to him, Lucas starts to befriend the locals and Katya which makes him feel more welcome, though the job and his wife Gabby (Ringwald) keep his attention.
Thoughts on Siberia
Characters – Lucas Hill is a diamond trader based in America, his latest job goes wrong, forcing him to head to St Petersburg to figure out just what has happened, here he learns of multiply interested parties and his partner is nowhere to be seen. He gets romantically involved with a local woman putting his personal life in danger. His problems are mounting up which only leads him to make rash decisions. Katya is a café owner that gets romantically involved in an affair with Lucas, she knows he has a wife and still gets involved, helping him with his dealings. Boris Volkov is the criminal client that Lucas is trying to make happy with his diamonds, he isn’t happy that the deal isn’t going smoothly forcing Lucas to search with his threats. Gabby is Lucas’s wife back in America, she knows his business and that he will be away for long periods of time.
Performances – Keanu Reeves does the basics well in this film, he doesn’t reach the levels he can and has been in recent years, but he does take a chance on another project which would be different. An Ulrau is solid too, she seems to have a difficult character to play with most of her scenes involving the relationship with Lucas. Pasha is fine in the generic villain role and Molly Ringwald is in this film, it is unfair to say anything bad about her, most of the question are around why we barely see her.
Story – The story here follows a diamond trader that must travel to Russia to figure out what went wrong on the latest job only for him to get caught up in an affair with a local woman. The problems with this film comes from focusing too long on the affair and meeting the locals which takes up a large amount of the film, the dealings some late and are glossed over feeling like we have seen it all before. We even have a moment where we have the phone call with the wife and for some reason we show the wife who isn’t seen again. The story is the weakest part of the film and just gets confused with what it is trying to tell us.
Crime/Romance – The crime world we enter shows Lucas conducting his diamond trades which never feels like it is as shady as it should be, you don’t get a full sense of how confrontational Lucas would be either. The romance angle in the film follows the basic affair one which would put our character in a position where he meets an unlikely person in his life.
Settings – The film is set in Russia, well Siberia, look at the title of the film. none of the location stand out as anything new or original.
Scene of the Movie – Learning the truth about the diamonds.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The Hunting scene, not needing and barbaric.
Final Thoughts – This is a lacklustre crime romance film that gets clogged down focusing on the certain sides of the film which makes you forget the other side of the film.
Overall: Crime thriller that just doesn’t hit home.
Rating