Ice-borg vs Superbrat
Janus Metz Sverrir Gudnason, Shia Labeouf crown.
Flashbacks reveal that the uber-cool Borg had anger management issues in his youth. Guided by his no-nonsense coach (Stellan Skarsgard), he learned to keep his temper in check, channelling energy instead into perfecting his strokes. In sharp contrast, the American enfant terrible, nicknamed ‘Superbrat’, garnered more attention for his courtside tantrums than his serve-and-volley style. Spot-on casting ensures that Gudnason and Labeouf are credible in their tennis action as well as in the dramatic interludes leading up to the climactic clash.
Leo Tolstoy’s literary classic has been adapted for the screen countless times, most notably in 1935, starring Greta Garbo.
This time, the romantic tragedy gets a Russian makeover that is visually sumptuous but dramatically inert.
Veteran Soviet director Karen Shakhnazarov (The Rider Named Death) retells the story from the vantage point of the turn-of-the-20thcentury Russo-japanese war.
It’s not clear why anyone would want to view a classic through the lens of a conflict no one’s heard of. After a chance encounter between Anna’s now-grown-up son (Krill Grebenshchikov) and her former lover (Max Matveev), the latter reminisces about the doomed affair with barely a flicker of emotion.
The trick serves no purpose except to stretch the film’s runtime beyond two hours. None of the characters makes an impression; there’s no on-screen chemistry even between the lovers.
You can safely give this one a miss.