I was Duped by Promises that may have been Eastern
I was duped. In order for me to explain I have to go back a year. When I first saw the trailer for Blood Diamond I instantly laughed at what struck me as the most obscene accent ever (Dicaprio as a South African). Little did I know that Blood Diamond was an amazing story with a heart in all the right places. Fast forward a year. I saw Blood Diamond on DVD and realized that accents, even ones that make you cringe at first, can sometimes work. I loved Blood Diamond and felt stupid for judging it so quickly.
SO… back to Eastern Promises. I saw the trailer, I hated Viggo’s accent, yet I told myself, “Eric don’t judge this like Blood Diamond.” So I rented Eastern Promises and wow. The blatant throat slicing complete with spraying blood in the first thirty seconds should have been a hint. I really did not like this film. Yes it has stars like Viggo Mortensen, and Naomi Watts. Yes it has a compelling plot twist, but when the credits rolled I felt a little empty- and not in a good way “I just finished Children of Men” empty.
I guess I read the reviews saying how great a film Eastern Promises was and so I expected something great, not something a step below good and a step above OK.
Take my advice and only see Eastern Promises if you have a compelling reason because on a whole its almost boring and we have seen the story before (a lot). It’s not a bad movie but it feels slightly tired.
PS Mortensen does a good job with his part and eventually I was OK (still didn’t love it but OK) with his accent. Oh and he has a completely nude fight scene.
