"The Russia House" makes one valid point: the "James Bond" movies do not provide an accurate description of the life of a spy. Having said that, if "The Russia House" does provide such an accurate description, one wonders why anyone would make this movie.
Simply put, this is very dull stuff. Sean Connery is Barley Blair, a British publisher who has a love for Russia and visits the old Soviet Union regularly. Set at the end of the Cold War, just as Gorbachev is beginning to open the Soviet Union to the West, Blair is conscripted against his will to work with Katya (Michelle Pfeiffer), a Russian publisher who has sent him a manuscript which actually contains Soviet military secrets. The major problem with this movie for me was that it just didn't seem that anything particularly important was at stake. As a result, the movie lacked tension; there was nothing in it that particularly held my interest.
It does - quite deliberately I think - address the question of just who the "bad guys" really are in this. A couple of scenes address this in particular. As Blair reluctantly meets with British Intelligence officials who are trying to convince him to take on this assignment, he's told by one "this is a free country. You have no choice." Then, as Blair is given a polygraph by CIA officials, this exchange: CIA - "Are you being coerced?" Blair - "Yes." CIA (somewhat excitedly) - "By the Soviets?" Blair (very deliberately) - "NO!"
It has a few moments, but overall I was quite disappointed. 3/10.
Simply put, this is very dull stuff. Sean Connery is Barley Blair, a British publisher who has a love for Russia and visits the old Soviet Union regularly. Set at the end of the Cold War, just as Gorbachev is beginning to open the Soviet Union to the West, Blair is conscripted against his will to work with Katya (Michelle Pfeiffer), a Russian publisher who has sent him a manuscript which actually contains Soviet military secrets. The major problem with this movie for me was that it just didn't seem that anything particularly important was at stake. As a result, the movie lacked tension; there was nothing in it that particularly held my interest.
It does - quite deliberately I think - address the question of just who the "bad guys" really are in this. A couple of scenes address this in particular. As Blair reluctantly meets with British Intelligence officials who are trying to convince him to take on this assignment, he's told by one "this is a free country. You have no choice." Then, as Blair is given a polygraph by CIA officials, this exchange: CIA - "Are you being coerced?" Blair - "Yes." CIA (somewhat excitedly) - "By the Soviets?" Blair (very deliberately) - "NO!"
It has a few moments, but overall I was quite disappointed. 3/10.