Barley Blair (Sean Connery), the failing boozehound scion of a collapsing British publishing house with a love for everything Russian, happens by drunken though eloquent happenstance to inspire a famous Soviet scientist into attempting to sneak his manuscript detailing the real sorry state of Russian ICBM capabilities into the hands of the West in order to foster a recognition of the folly of the arms race and to end what he calls "the great lie". The scientist attempts to contact Blair, but through a series of mishaps rivaling the deeds of the keystone cops winds up landing the manuscript in the hands of the British Secret Service. So they soon want Barley to intercede with the Russian contact point (Michelle Pfeiffer) to find out who the author of the manuscript is and thus determine its authenticity. So Barley pursues the beautiful but conflicted contact, an idealistic angel of mercy who soon sparks Barley's love interest and paternal concern. The game is afoot.

The movie is gorgeously photographed on a number of locations throughout Russia, and the travelogue-like tour through Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and Minsk is spellbinding. Likewise, the acting is top notch, with Roy Scheider, James Fox, and a whole welter of distinguished British actors lending presence and gravity to this intelligent thriller. As is usual, the plot takes off slowly but builds to a mind-boggling series of intertwining activities one has to pay attention to understand. Before long we recognize the familiar murderous games set into motion with deadly earnest by the Brits, the Americans, and the Russians, none of whom give a rattler's damn about Barley, the contact, or the scientist.

This is a stunning, suspenseful, and somewhat rueful tale of what unfolds when we discover that there is a real possibility that the so-called Soviet ICBM threat is a sham, that the missiles cannot escape their silos, that their ability to achieve trajectory or destroy targets with any accuracy is vastly over-rated. And as one can expect from LeCarre's shadowy and complex geopolitical world of espionage and power, there are no simple answers or easy foregone conclusions. This is a wonderful movie, which in my opinion is quite under-rated. It has the ring of more real-life veracity and worldly wisdom than one can easily find o


Russia House -->Terrific!

Although I have not seen the DVD (it hasn't been released yet) I have watched the VHS version at least 40 times. A spy movie set during the Cold War, The Russia House stars Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer. Connery is a British publisher, Barley Scott Blair, who is sent manuscripts by a Russian woman named Katya (Pfeiffer). However, the manuscripts are intercepted by British intelligence and are analysis of the Soveit Empire's nuclear capabilities. Blaire is convinced to play the role of spy for the British, and he must befirend Katya in order find the author of the manuscripts (the mysterious Dante.) As the story unfolds, Blaire and Katya grow closer to each other, and Blair soon finds himself trapped between the loyalties he has to his mother country and to Katya.
This is an extremely terrific movie, but is also very confusing. I had to watch it 7 times before the plot really made sense to me, but once I understood what was going on, it was a joy to watch it over and over again. This is not one of Connery's most famous works, but it is certainly one of his best. Reprising his role as spy, Connery does a much better job of it than as James Bond. Michelle Pfeiffer is similary convincing as Katya, who is caught in between the politics of Russia and Britan.
I whole heartedly recommend this movie, but I do caution anyone who has not seen it before to rent it first. A DVD version is long overdue and still the features the DVD will have are only subtitles and widescreen, which is perfect for some of the beautiful landscape scenes in Russia.


TRULY INTRIGUING THEME WASTED BY WANDERING DIRECTION

You truly cannot go wrong with a combination like Connery (who is instantly likeable) and Pfeifer (who is stunningly moving in her role as a working Russian mother of two). But despite what could have been a pretty gripping theme with unpredictable twists, this just ends up being a directorial mess. Another reviewer suggested that this ought to be viewed as a spy drama not a spy thriller. To me, that sounds like a poor excuse for story telling gone astray.

Blair (Sean Connery) is a British publisher with a clear affinity for Russia, and has received a manuscript from Pfeifer's character, Katya, which he believes contains Soviet military secrets. The British intelligence SOMEHOW gets to know of this (will we ever know how and when) and Blair gets reluctantly involved in a plot to find out more about Katya and her associations. We are sort of made to feel on whose side Blair is on, and who the "bad guys" are (clue: CIA and the Queen's men of course) but my problem with the movie is it never really quite grabs you by the collar and drag you into the theme, or at least give the impression that anything terribly important is at stake.

It starts, goes on and on with some guys doodling in a very CIA like fashion amidst some glorious shots of Moscow, and suddenly everything comes to an end with the bad guys left in the dust by a very cleverly hatched scheme by Blair and Katya -- so sinister a scheme indeed than even the audience is left bewildered. Yeah.

While the movie sports some clever, even funny, moments, overall the narrative is boggling and wanders from concept to concept. Some directorial coherence for the audience would have been great. If the combination of Connery and Pfeifer intrigues you, especially a Russian accented Pfeifer, this may be worth a watch. Otherwise, a strangely intriguing movie.