‘Red Sparrow’: A Good Spy Thriller That Almost Sticks the Landing

Dominika Egorova loves her mother. Before she is a ballerina, before she is a ‘sparrow,’ she is a doting daughter. The audience first sees the woman who will become the ‘sparrow’ through this lens. The sparrow’s only hope to remain tethered to her humanity despite her training is this connection. Her mother who advises her to hold something back. If Dominika is to survive in the world of espionage that she finds herself suddenly and irrevocably in, her mother’s advice might be the only thing can keep her alive. Those first few scenes ask a lot of the audience, though. Red Sparrow’s title character, played by Jennifer Lawrence, moves rapidly away from the normalcy of her ailing mother and the financial strains illness brings with it and into a world of violence and calculated betrayal. We are meant to watch the transformation, believe it fully, and yet retain sympathy for the once ballerina. Her first life This is mostly accomplished through her relatable backstory and the unfortunate domino effect of choices, some hers and some made for her, that lead her to sparrow school. It’s hard to find fault with the performances in the film. Whether or not you are a Lawrence fan, she does a good job portraying the embittered and wronged ballerina turned callous tool of the government. Her counterpart, CIA agent Nate Nash, is likewise played by Joel Edgerton with a convincing mix of charm and seen-it-all-done-it-all. The list of who acted well in this movie is not short. Add to that the…