Murder On the Soviet Express

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm not a true crime person. There's something seedy about reveling in the intrigue of something that has real-life victims, and as an unabashed horror fan, I find it uncomfortably blurs lines that I've spent my life defending. 

That being said, 1995's Citizen X intrigued me: a made-for-HBO movie in its early days of original programming following the real-life case of a prolific Soviet serial killer and equipped with a ridiculously good cast.

Quick Plot: It's 1982 in the Soviet Union, and new forensic specialist Viktor Burakov (Stephen Rea) has a rough night (and subsequent 8 years) ahead of him. A corpse found in the nearby woods arrives right at closing time, but as Viktor insists the police go deeper in their search, he can't complain when they discover another handful of victims, abused and murdered according to a pattern.

Before he can shower, Viktor is summoned to an early morning council of Soviet officials allergic to hearing words like "serial killer" or "FBI." This is bureaucracy at its tightest, and the best Viktor can hope for in his investigation is for the careful, deceptively ambivalent machinations of his superior Col. Fetisov (Donald Sutherland) to pay off. 

Viktor is a passionate, caring man who sees the problems in front of him and can't understand why the system won't bend. Fetisov has spent his whole career playing the game, gathering intel quietly and never rocking the boat publicly. In its own way, it's a marriage made in heaven.

But there's a lot of hell in between. 

The identity of the killer isn't hidden from the audience. We meet unhappy factory worker Andrei Chikatilo (familiar face Jeffrey DeMunn) early on and see his pattern as Viktor pieces it out: hang around the train stations on the outskirts of Moscow until a target appears. The victims are either children, sex workers, vagrants, or young adults that can't necessarily fend for themselves. 

Viktor nails Chikatilo's routine down so well that he actually captures the man, only for his superiors to scoff at the idea that a respected, heterosexual member of the communist party could do such a thing. Faulty bloodwork leads to Chikatilo's release, and the hunt continues for another few years, along with additional victims.

Written and directed by Chris Gerolmo, Citizen X is an incredibly watchable product of its time. Today, this would be the first season of a limited anthology series vying for Emmys against a dozen similar products. But in 1995, the gaggle of prestige actors trying out Russian accents is kind of charming in its own way.

There's actually a surprising amount of charm to be found in this story about a sadistic child killer. Gerolmo doesn't revel in Chikatilo's violence, instead showing the weight such crimes have on those who directly witness them. There's a rather noble sense of honor about Viktor's pursuit for justice, as well as how Fetisov watches the world around him with caution so that he can play his cards at just the right time and for the right result.

The only time Citizen X really slips into straight procedural is the ending, which suffers by moving closer to Chikatilo and further from Viktor and Fetisov. The abrupt coda feels off, especially since Citizen X seems so clear-minded about what it really wants to explore: this should be a story about how intelligent and more importantly, persistent investigating led to the capture of a monster, not so much a story about the monster.

High Points

There's such joy to be had when you get to watch good actors play off each other, and nowhere is that more true than when Stephen Rea and Donald Sutherland get to develop their tentative teamwork from two wildly different backgrounds

Low Points

It's fun to see a young Imelda Staunton pop up as Viktor's dutiful wife, but like so many of these kinds of "men investigate things" stories, it's also a minor shame that she, as one of the few speaking women onscreen, exists in the story to remind him (and us) that he's a good man

Lessons Learned

If you want to get things done in a bureaucracy, you better know how to avoid making it look like you're getting anything done

Being a hero is enormously taxing

When in doubt, send in Max Von Sydow

Rent/Bury/Buy

I had a shockingly good time watching Citizen X, and this is coming from someone who generally backs away from these kinds of films. Have at it on whatever we're calling the HBO app these days.

The Biggest Bug Your Windshield Ever Caught

There’s something truly lovable the directing style of Stuart Gordon, and I’m not ONLY talking about one of my all-time favorite killer doll films. Though he doesn’t necessarily boast the genre-making resume of someone like George Romero or Tobe Hooper, all Gordon’s work has an interesting, fairly intelligent yet unabashedly gory style that somehow feels less sleazy than so many of his cohorts.

Hence I greeted his latest feature, Stuck, with guarded enthusiasm, mostly due to the underwhelming reviews it had received. Thankfully, there’s no bravery-inducing charm quite like Netflix Instant Watch.

Quick Plot: Brandi (a cornrowed clad Mena Suvari) toils away at a nursing home, faithfully hosing down the incontinent as her boss dangles a possible promotion over her pug nose. Meanwhile, a soon-to-be homeless fortysomething named Tom (sad-faced Stephen Rea) shuffles around town just as Brandi drunkenly plows her car into his torso. In shock, Brandi pulls into her garage, Tom’s legs still jutting out her windshield.

That’s the main setup of Stuck, and it’s a pretty neat one at that. Also thrown into the mix are are Rashid, Brandi’s wannabe gangsta boyfriend, and a few colorful neighbors, including a sympathetic family of illegal immigrants. At its core though, Stuck is--or really, should be--a morality tale, a two-man showdown between a nothing-to-live-for bum and a life-finally-going-her-way young career woman (sorta).

The problem, at least from my high standards, is that Gordon seems to avoid what makes his story so fascinating. It’s amusing to watch Rashid reluctantly prove his non-badassness, but focusing on his and Brandi’s inept coverup is far less interesting than the psychology involved in doing so. When you have a truly gifted actor like Stephen Rea, why relegate him to moaning for help?

Having said this, I did enjoy Stuck as a breezy instant watch. It’s funny and something new, a well put together thriller comedy that never skims on blood or cruelty. It’s just not quite the movie it feels like it could have been.

High Points

Though he doesn’t get nearly enough to do, Stephen Rea brings his A-game, particularly in his early job-hunting sadsack scenes

Low Points

Mena Suvari will never be wrongly accused of being a good actress and though she's more adequate than usual here, I still wish her Brandi had a few more layers. We never really feel the inner struggle going on inside her in terms of do-I-kill-a-man-or-not, something that feels so missing when such a dilemma is the film’s main asset

Lessons Learned

Nothing sets a sexy mood better than a lava lamp

Corn rows flatter no white woman

Anybody can do anything to anyone and get away with it

Rent/Bury/Buy

Stuck is a pretty enjoyable little movie, but it lacks the smarts to really explore its setup. Perfectly adequate for Instant Watch, but not a film I’ll return to anytime soon. A when-you-get-the-chance recommendation for most, unless you’re a disturbed Suvari stalker (boobs are shown) or Suvari despiser (she still really can’t act). The Rea/Gordon ingredients help to even things out, but Stuck still feels like a bag of trail mix. Passable for a meal, with mild bursts of positive satisfaction. Then pretzels, which are TOTALLY fine....just not as good as those tasty chocolate covered raisins that your bag just never seems to have enough of.