“Not all gold that shines, not all iron that rusts, and not all aluminum that bends.” "We've got to believe it'll be alright in the end."
We've got to believe it'll be alright again.
Duran Duran – What Happens Tomorrow
The film with the abstract-poetic title Rusty Aluminum fell into my hands on a tip. Maybe a year or two ago I wouldn’t have seen something like this. But, hardened and admired by such films as “Big jackpot”, “Rock and Roller”, “You are a corpse”, etc., I, if I may say so, broke my film stereotypes with a hammer. And I threw the fragments into the window on the head of fans of Notting Hill (to whom, nevertheless, I continue to count myself).
What is Rusty Aluminum? This is a film showdown between cunning and simplicity, the battle of greed, quirkiness and envy with trust, openness and pathological luck, the battle of the universal blonde favorite with the gray cardinal of black accounting. It's actually more prosaic. Two film contenders for Shakespeare's works (J. Fiennes - the young Shakespeare in Shakespeare in Love (1998) and Rhys Ivans - Earl of Oxford, one of the alleged authors of his works in Anonymous (2011)) find that after the death of the company's director, this enterprise will soon go down as the legendary Titanic in the 12th year. Friends, one of whom is the scoundrel Pete, a direct heir, and the second, Sean, the chief head of the entire corporate economy, did not come up with anything better than to seek sponsorship from the Russians. Oh, those Russians! It is not enough that the office is cracking at the seams, and the new owner spends the last strength in trying to make his own heir for this very office! Apparently, decent British guys did not understand that dealing with Russians is the same as riding a roller coaster. It so happened that Ivans’ hero Pete, on his own imported skin, learned and confirmed the eternal truths: about the hospitality of the entire Russian people in general, the special charm of Russian women and the strength and non-standard thinking of Russian men in particular.
It was extremely amusing to watch Pete enter the Russian hinterland on a village cart and listen to the lines of the chief Russian, Mr. Kent (sic!). Yes, Kent is the most common surname after Ivanov, Petrov and Sidorov. Well, let’s write off these ubiquitously duplicated in all not our, but about us films blunders on the lack of imagination of the director and screenwriter. National love and pride of the British, in fact, ruthless not only to the Slavs. The Americans, Germans and French also have to swallow their own stamps. Therefore, the balalaika and samovar in the frame is just a cheerful friendly pendule. Good though, about the bear on skates and Lenin in the frame on the wall was forgotten and not shown for greater authenticity.
Women: Sadie Frost (Sarah), the former Mrs. Lowe much more spectacularly blazed red mane in "Dracula" (1992), although her races on Ivans amuse. Tara Fitzgerald (Masha) is completely unrecognizable thanks to her hair ginger, and she is the faithful Cat Ashley from The Virgin Queen (2005). Devoted secretary Charlie (Danie Behr) and not at all familiar to me, but for the stage in the elevator she and Rhys absolute credit.
Men: Lord Voldemort's younger brother (Joseph Fiennes), it turns out, can portray not only gentlemen of the Elizabethan era. And Rhys Ivans, a man with a double bottom, a languid look and a sunken stomach, convincingly (although unexpectedly for himself) seduces women who overripe peaches fall into his arms.
Overall, the movie was as funny as it was criminal. At times it resonated with Greek epics and even Roman tragedy. The ending, and even more so, resembles the completion of Russian folk tales. The only thing missing is a kind grandmother in a tray and a handkerchief with the famous phrase “This is the end of the fairy tale, and who listened – well done!” Such a movie is a spectacle for an honest amateur. A lover of confused clarifications of relationships, Hamletian doubts, accidental fights and hectic love on the screen. And also, what is important, fans of no one like Rhys Ivans as a target for the arrows of Amur, a treacherous dagger and bullets of business competitors.
P.S.: Watching such a movie, understanding it and even getting high is like joining a Masonic Lodge: those who need to know know know...
8 out of 10