The Half Life of Timofey Berezin (2006)

Director:

Scott Z. Burns

Writers (WGA):

Scott Z. Burns (screenplay)
Ken Kalfus (short story "PU-239")

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

His family's future depends on one unstable element.

Plot:

A worker at a Russian nuclear facility gets exposed to a lethal dose of radiation. In order to provide for his family, he steals some plutonium and sets out to sell it on Moscow's black market with the help of an incompetent criminal. |

Plot Keywords:

Black Market | Radiation Poisoning | Russia | Terminal Illness | Plutonium

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Paddy Considine	...	Timofey
Radha Mitchell	...	Marina
Oscar Isaac	...	Shiv
Danya Baryshnikov	...	Tolya
Nikolaj Lie Kaas	...	Tusk
Steven Berkoff	...	Kurchatov
Mélanie Thierry	...	Oxsana
Jason Flemyng	...	Vlad
Jordan Long	...	Yegor
Kenneth Bryans	...	Prusokov
Connor McIntyre	...	Director
Florina Cercel	...	Valentina
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ioana Abur	...	Mother Dog
Irene Bagach	...	Victoria
Elena Baranovshi	...	Old Woman
Constantin Barbulescu	...	Dmitri
Mihai Bendeac	...	Random Worker
Ioan Brancu	...	TV Vendor
Dan Chiriac	...	White Russian
Anatoli Ciumac	...	Flat Head
Oana Cojocaru	...	Svetlana
Matyelok Gibbs	...	Ana
Derek Hutchinson	...	Deputy
Stefan Iancu	...	Andrei
Sophia Lansky	...	Additional Voices
Lucia Maier	...	Olga
Melissa Milne	...	Librarian
Raluca Mirescu	...	Lip Gloss
Derren Nesbitt	...	Pepsi
Rudy Rosenfeld	...	Vodka Bottle
Andrea Soltuju	...	Way Too Young
Bogdan Uritescu	...	Foreman
Yoshinori Yamamoto	...	Japanese Business Man

Also Known As:

PU-239 (USA) (working title (TV title))

MPAA:

Rated R for language, violence, sexual content and brief drug use.

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R

Filming Locations:

Bucharest, Romania

Company:

Beacon Pictures

Quotes:

Shiv: You know who wore hat like this?
Andrei: No.
Shiv: Jesse James.
Andrei: Jesse James!
[mimicking pistols with hands]
Shiv: Jesse James. He wore hat just like this. He only stole from rich people, so he really wasn't a thief. He'd go into a rough place like Chicago or Brooklyn and do business.
Andrei: Like you?
Shiv: [nodding] The CIA chased him for years. Whenever Jesse Jackson needed a car he stole one.
Andrei: Jesse James?
Shiv: What did I say?
[...]

Somber and decent.

This movie was OK. It was not quite great, but interesting enough to be a bit above average. It starts out great, but then settles into a kind of blandness for the rest of the film.

Basically, the movie is about a man who is exposed to a lethal dose of radiation in a nuclear power plant in Russia. Knowing he is going to die soon, he absconds with a small amount of plutonium and attempts to sell it on the black market ... all to help provide for his family.

If the plot sounds interesting, the movie somehow drains the intensity out of it. The middle 90% of the movie is basically uneventful and focused on a slightly deranged mob-related fellow that the main character meets. More than anything, the movie depicts the degenerating state of affairs of two very different individuals who get linked up.

The movie is somewhat interesting and unusual, but I can't find a good reason to recommend it. If you end up watching it for a little while, just keep in mind, it won't get any better.