Film Review: Siberia (2018)
Keanu Reeves is one of the greatest Hollywood stars of the last few decades, particularly renowned for his work in the action genre. The series of his successes in this field is quite long, and it is easy to imagine how he will continue to enjoy the status of an unassailable film action hero in the seventh decade of his life, possibly even later, akin to the current status of Liam Neeson, or the one that Charles Bronson and Clint Eastwood once held. However, no matter how much his status as a star is acknowledged, he will not conceal the fact that Reeves possesses the acting skills of a Slavonian oak, and that every film of his, conditionally speaking, "serious" and less "breezy" in action, will end in more than a serious danger, finishing like an average Croatian state-financed drama film Nothing better illustrates this than his 2018 film Siberia.
In terms of genre, the film nominally belongs to the romantic thriller sphere. It begins when Lucas Hill (Reeves), an American diamond trader, arrives in Saint Petersburg to complete a sale of valuable blue diamonds. Hill faces a major problem: his Russian partner has vanished along with the diamonds, forcing him to fabricate excuses and alibis for the incomplete job. An additional problem is that the client is a local oligarch, Boris Volkov (Pasha D. Lychnikoff), whose reputation suggests a person who should not be disappointed. Hill is therefore forced to go on a diamond hunt, a trail leading him to the remote town of Mirny in eastern Siberia, known for its diamond mines. His arrival brings further issues, including inappropriate clothing for the local climate, poor transport services, and a lack of nightlife. This last issue, Hill attempts to compensate for by visiting a local café run by a young and attractive woman named Katja (Ana Ularu). Hill becomes infatuated with her carelessly, just as Katja feels a clear attraction to the bewildered stranger, who is so different from his friends, neighbors, and local residents. Hill simultaneously tries to decide the fate of their passionate relationship while resolving the mystery of the stolen diamonds, which could endanger both him and Katja.
The film's screenplay was written by Scott B. Smith, a novelist and screenwriter known for his Oscar-nominated adaptation of his novel A Simple Plan, while the director is Matthew Ross, who was previously celebrated at Sundance with his noir thriller Frank & Lola. Although these names suggest something good, or at least respectable, Siberia likely began to unravel the moment Reeves was cast in the role, a part that he could have performed far better by any character actor or even a middle-aged actor whose appearance better matched his age. Although the main plot involves some international intrigue, subterfuge, and murky business dealings, this film is actually a deadly serious drama about a man facing a midlife crisis at the worst possible place, attempting to resolve it in the worst possible way. Instead of some action, the film offers exceptionally slow scenes, usually with large detours into clichés, attempting to suggest cultural and other differences between Russians and Americans, but which most often show how poorly Reeves acts compared to his colleagues. This includes the Romanian actress Anna Ulari, who, for a moment, manages to create some "chemistry" with her co-star, but more notably the Russian-American actor Pasha D. Lychnikoff, who simply shines in his role as a dramatic villain. However, as time passes, the film, which mainly takes place in cafés and hotel rooms, begins to have authenticity issues; despite the title, the film, with the exception of a few scenes in Saint Petersburg, was not actually filmed in Russia, let alone Siberia; the famous mine in Mirny was reconstructed using obvious special effects, and the much of the locations shooting is done in Canadian Manitoba with appropriately planted birches that would give it some "Russian" charm. The authors also try to compensate by ensuring that almost all the characters, regardless of whether they were interpreted by American, Canadian, German, or Russian actors, speak Russian, including Reeves himself.
However, all this effort is further undermined by the complete screenplay failure, which becomes particularly evident in the second half of the film. Some subplots are completely missed, including the character of Hill's wife, who interprets a former American teen star, Molly Ringwald, in a single scene. All this culminates in a confusing, but exceptionally dark ending that was supposed to suggest a tragedy, but instead suggests where the screenplay should have ended before even filming began.
RATING: 4/10 (+)
(Note: The text in the original Croatian version is available here.)
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