Dead Man's Bluff

The Tarantino virus has apparently now infected the entire world: Aleksei Balabanov's Dead Man's Bluff is a Pulp Fiction rip-off from post-Soviet Russia that's as bad as anything made by the endless string of American copycats. The convoluted story revolves around early-1990s gangsters and crooked cops trying to double-cross one another over a cache of heroin and a stash of drug money, but the dumb plot is just an excuse for a dreary series of shootouts, torture scenes, and supposedly humorous conversations (one even comparing McDonalds hamburgers with traditional Russian pies) that all feel derivative. Bookended contemporary scenes suggest the film is a commentary on how thugs and thieves seized upon the lawless atmosphere brought on by the collapse of communism to become today's murderous oligarchs, but the claim comes across as just an empty justification for the movie's excesses. Poorly written, atrociously acted, and visually ugly to boot, Dead Man's Bluff is very violent but incredibly dull, and while it may be of some academic interest to those studying modern Russian film—Eisenstein must be rolling over in his grave—it would be a terrible movie in any language. Not recommended. (F. Swietek)