Child 44 (8/4/2015)

Rated R for violence, some disturbing images, language and a scene of sexuality.

Starring Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace, Joel Kinnaman and Gary Oldman

Directed by Daniel Espinosa (Safe House)

After watching Child 44, I’m still not sure what happened or what was supposed to happen.

A politically-charged serial killer thriller set in 1953 Soviet Russia, CHILD 44 chronicles the crisis of conscience for secret police agent Leo Demidov (Tom Hardy), who loses status, power and home when he refuses to denounce his own wife, Raisa (Noomi Rapace), as a traitor. Exiled from Moscow to a grim provincial outpost, Leo and Raisa join forces with General Mikhail Nesterov (Gary Oldman) to track down a serial killer who preys on young boys. Their quest for justice threatens a system-wide cover-up enforced by Leo’s psychopathic rival Vasili (Joel Kinnaman), who insists “There is no crime in Paradise.”

Not every filmmaker can take a good book and turn it into a good movie. This is especially true if a book is not inherently cinematic and requires more squeezing it into the comfortable two-hour time slot. Child 44 is the latest victim of “poor adaptation.”

There’s just one problem after another. The pace and flow are dreadful, the narrative is confusing, the characters are never fully development, and there are seemingly endless subplots that go nowhere. I believe the filmmakers tried to be faithful to Tom Rob Smith’s well-regarded novel, but were not able to deliver.

Perhaps things might have been different if Ridley Scott had directed (as originally planned) instead of taking a producing role and handing the reins over to Daniel Espinosa…but we’ll never know.

The acting is adequate. Tom Hardy delivers another Tom Hardy type performance. And Gary Oldman is good, but underused; he appears in only a handful of scenes before disappearing altogether.

It felt like Espinosa simply bit off more than he could chew. He does a decent job crafting the atmosphere of 1950s gloomy and scary Russia. But is never able to make the story come alive.

Some books are better off never being made into movies. I don’t know if that’s a fair statement for Child 44 but it’s safe to say it would have been better off not being made into this movie – so I’m saying “Skip it.”

SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
There is one sex scene early on in the film and about 15 uses of the F word. There is a lot of violence throughout the film and several disturbing images.

CONVERSATION STARTER:

1. Where do we first meet Leo?


2. Do your best to describe what you think it would be like to live in an orphanage like that.

Read James 1:27

Religion that pleases God the Father must be pure and spotless. You must help needy orphans and widows and not let this world make you evil.


3. According to this verse, what kind of religion is pure?


4. What are some ways you can live out a pure and spotless religion?