Archangel

Ok, ok. All good. But not getting that no one else is getting that the boy, AT A MINIMUM, would be 65 years old this year. Senior died in 1953

"Archangel" is a BBC production in three parts done in 2005 and starring Daniel Craig and Gabriel Macht (Suits). It's based on a novel I haven't read, so I'll say right off the bat I can't compare the two.

Craig plays Fluke Kelso, a British history professor in Russia. After lecturing about the evils of Stalin, he is approached by an old man who tells Kelso that he knows nothing. The man tells him that when he was a young guard, he witnessed the burying of a notebook that could change Russia forever. The man leaves before Kelso can talk to him further, so he goes looking for him and eventually meets the man's daughter Zinaida (Yekaterina Rednikova). When they track down her father, he has been murdered.

Kelso and Zinaida, hounded by a TV reporter (Macht), then attempt to track down the notebook, translate it, and learn the secret.

Actually filmed in Russia and Latvia, the scenery is amazing, and Daniel Craig is so good that one is willing to overlook an insane plot. It's very much like the DaVinci code but doesn't quite get there.

The script is okay but not great, and the characters are somewhat stereotyped, though Rednikova and Macht give good performances. Craig is a brilliant actor and does a wonderful job.

This film could have been a lot better, but as it is, it's interesting, well done, well acted, and holds one's interest. What more could one ask for? Well, some character development and a story that is a little bit less fanciful.

I watched this movie as a last resort, for something better to do, and I was pleasantly surprised. The story was very good, which is something you don't get these days with the new breed of writers. This is also the first time I have seen Daniel Craig in a movie since his rise to James Bond. I was impressed with his acting and he was very believable in his part. I believe that is movie is out on DVD and well worth the rental fee or purchase if you like. There are a lot of twists and turns in this movie but if you pay attention it is fairly easy to keep up with the action. I would recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys a story with a lot of ins and outs.

A great cast and premise goes absolutely nowhere. Characters are shallow and have no discernible arcs. The plot seems interesting at first but can't back up the initial promise. The visual style is bland and muddy throughout.

I kept thinking "this will come through with a great ending"... until about halfway through the final episode when I realized this was going to crash with a thud. Characters who seemed to be important started dying, and an ending that made everything that came before utterly useless. What a waste of time and talents.

Archangel, an excellent action/adventure story, was filmed in Moscow and Latvia and originally produced as a two part BBC-TV series. Unlike many US adaptations of serialized TV shows, the transition between the episodes is seamless and the ensuing two-hour drama stands in good stead as an integrated whole.

The result is an outstanding motion picture. The cinematography is impressive, the plot is fascinating, and the acting, by both supporting actors and principals is first rate - including what may be Daniel Craig's finest recent performance.

Filmed under what were obviously frequently challenging conditions of rain, snow and cold, Archangel manages to capture the bitter chill and desolation of the countryside in winter as well as the grit and grandeur of Moscow.

As the plot unfolds it relates the tale of a Western historian, Kelso - played by Craig - who attends a conference in Moscow only to discover a mystery and a conspiracy dating back to Stalin's death in 1953. His life in danger, Kelso teams up with a young Russian woman, Zinaida - brilliantly portrayed by Yekaterina Rednikova - to solve the mystery and attempt to foil the plot.

Although the story line sounds generally similar to "the Da Vinci Code", Archangel more credibly dramatizes a profound conflict in values between traditionalists and progressives - in this case, in a society where socialism was once the opiate of the intelligentsia. In that respect it is much like the earlier Russia House, which starred Sean Connery as the western visitor enmeshed in a dangerous conspiracy and internal conflict in the former Soviet Union.

To one who lived through the cold war, Archangel does a marvelous job - integrating current events with flashbacks - of depicting the complex ways in which the Russian people did and still do react to Stalin - a proved mass murderer - with fear, with hatred, with admiration and respect, and even with love.

The story doesn't require too extreme a suspension of disbelief, and the portrayal of the Moscow streets and Russian people, rural and urban, powerful or impoverished, opportunists and petty bureaucrats, progressives who long for change and traditionalist who seek a return to an earlier era, is quite realistic.

One of the greatest pleasures of Archangel is the opportunity to see Daniel Craig at his best. He brings wit, charm and intelligence to the role of Kelso in a way that he was either unable or not allowed to do in either Casino Royale or Munich.

Craig is obviously a very talented actor - and in Archangel, delivers a performance that far outshines his work in Casino Royale - as well as that of the other Bond - Sean Connery - in a similar role in the aforementioned Russia House.

All in all, a great way to spend two hours - and I'd watch it again.