There are Russian criminal detectives. This is what I saw when I watched the series “Charges”.
At first, of course, I didn’t expect anything good. Especially in the light of the "detectives" that are shown to us through central channels. Sitting down at 11 p.m., I was sure I would turn it off in half an hour. But I never went to bed until I swallowed all 8 fifty-minute episodes. And this despite the fact that I consider myself a rather sophisticated spectator of detective stories, I am a fan of British detective series, a zealous admirer of the world of Inspector Morse, Lewis and Endeavour. I hate vulgar dialogue, primitive plots and a dull picture.
I was very impressed by the scoring.
So there's an armed attack on a collector's car. All the money was stolen, three collectors were injured. Oleg Mezentsev (Alexey Komashko), the head of a private collection company that transported valuable cargo, suspects one of his own: this someone not only passed the route, but also knew that in the car, in addition to honest revenue, black cash will also be transported. Now Oleg needs to identify the traitor and return the money to the owners. He asks for help from his former military colleague, Vadim Streltsov (Daniel Strakhov). Vadim becomes a collector in Oleg’s office, and tries to find out from the inside who the “rat” is. The problem is that the more Vadim learns about his colleagues, the better he realizes that everyone had a motive to commit a robbery and break the jackpot. Meanwhile, police officers are conducting their own investigation.
The detective component, initially promising, twists with each series more and more, each time getting an unexpected outcome. Suspects and their motives change during the investigation. Heroes are registered well, each has its own skeletons in the closet, and the bones begin to rumble as soon as Vadim undertakes to stir them up. In general, what is happening on the screen does not cause bewilderment, as it often happens, but on the contrary, spurs interest.
The atmosphere is good. Slightly muted colors at first annoyed, but then it turned out that they quite fit into the mood of the story. I liked Moscow, there are a lot of it in the frame: beautiful views, and outlying views, urban landscapes, close-up and in passing, but always with love for the city, it is felt. The musical accompaniment does not irritate, reflects the tense atmosphere of what is happening, and does not even have time to get tired of the denouement.
What is nice is that the collection service is unnecessarily not romanticized, and the police are shown not as stupid scoundrels, as we are often presented with from TV screens. All in all, in the spirit of a good detective. Dialogues are not vulgar or banal, the plot is intriguing, the atmosphere keeps in suspense until the final denouement.
Besides, the actors play well. The main character Vadim is an honest and kind guy, brave and skillful, and even handsome. Daniil Strakhov looks quite natural in this role. Huge sympathy is caused by Oleg Mezentsev - decent in general and, of course, the owner of a pleasant appearance. The entire collection team, each image, causes genuine interest and empathy. No one overplays, actors perfectly tell the stories of their heroes. It's very expensive to watch.
Now for the minuses. They certainly do.
Minus one: predictability of the plot. In itself, he is not bad, but I figured out the villain by watching the first series. Until the last day I hoped that I would be wrong, but alas. Plus the crumpled ending, the ending was a bit banal. Well, I'm not sure I need to complain about it too much, this format.
Minus the second: the amount of alcohol in the frame is skyrocketing. Most importantly, for no particular reason. Well, I don't understand why every time you close up a bottle of vodka on the table of the protagonist and make him pour as soon as there is a mental turmoil. The same cops drink tea in the workplace, and collectors, due to their unbearably burdensome profession, whip vodka in black and hung over with beer. Remove at least half of the alcohol shown - and it would not be so much.
Minus the third is a completely indistinct love line. Inadequate emotional torment and disassembly of the couple in love remained a mystery to me.
But in general, the creators turned out atmospheric good criminal detective. Which turned out to be a nice surprise. A couple of such series – and I will start to change my opinion about modern Russian cinema, because you can find something good in everything.
8 out of 10