Oh Bathhouse Fight Scene...

Eastern Promises(dir. David Cronenberg)
That fight scene definitely makes it worth checking out even if you have zero interest in the rest of the movie. Viggo's performance is a little overrated in my mind. He overdoes his charm a tad too much in a number of scenes before the fight scene, but by the end, it starts to become more complex since his character becomes more than just an extremely charming and suave Russian mobster. It's still probably the performance of the year so far even if I feel it's overpraised. I wasn't all that into it before that fight scene probably because it seemed a little too squeaky clean in my mind even if there was some lurid content like Kirill forcing Nikolai to have sex with a presumably underage prostitute. There was a sort of blandness and lack of immediacy that didn't stir up much interest before, but once you see that fight scene, you become immediately wrapped up in it. It's the equivalent of the sex scene in Red Road. The scene is not as violent as what some will you lead you to believe, but it's still brutal and incredibly intense, nonetheless. I don't really understand all the complaining about the ending because I can't see how they would have been able to take the narrative any further. I do have to say their kiss near the end was pretty iffy since she has no idea who he really is. I'd understand if someone might feel it's a little too cheery, but most of the complaints have been about it's inconclusive nature even though it pretty much wraps everything up. Overall, it was really good. I highly recommend.
***1/2 out of ****