The film turned out to be frankly weak, aiming at deep psychologism and intellectuality, and for some reason moving the action 20 years ahead of the original book, the director Bortko drove himself into a trap.
The weakest part of the picture is its technical component. The editing and camera work obviously came from television soap operas. The sound is so bad, not all the reservations of the actors are reshot. Many general plans of cities, as from the guide films, with some shots used several times. I hope the crew rested well there. There is a general feeling of watching a very long series of domestic television series.
Such a scanty wrapper only highlights all the flaws of the plot. Attempting to look the spy into the soul, obviously shifts the emphasis from the intellectuality of what is happening to emotionality. Only here's the trouble - television plans and sluggish music creates a feeling of gray swamp, and concentrating on the experiences of the main character, the writers have to take all "smart" things to the background.
There aren't many of them here either. “Intrigue” with the “rat” becomes obvious to everyone except the main character in the middle of the film. And the rest of the success of the "investigation" is based on the orchestra in the bushes.
It turns out to be an emotionally non-clinging story about a spy who makes idiotic decisions in his personal life (well, it is his fault, it happens), betrays friends with whom nothing happens in the end (I would regret it and I can, but nothing happens) and does all this for the sake of love for the Motherland (the origins of which have not even tried to reveal, such a deep psychologicalism).
At the same time, being a double agent, he does not disdain personal meetings, violating secrecy, does not conduct investigations and does not particularly reflect. The film is about our spy.
The presence of Buldakov and Panin in the role of spies and does raise questions about the genre of the picture.
I was cheated twice with this movie. I was promised to show my TV in the scenes of Moscow in the 80s, but with the new script about 2014, the film deprived me of this pleasure.