Red Sparrow (Francis Lawrence) - 2018

This is a nasty, ugly, dark movie about life in modern Russia.  I will never understand the people who view such ugliness as somehow entertaining.  Obviously, this is a star vehicle for Jennifer Lawrence who appears in 95% of the scenes.  However, I am surprised that Ms. Lawrence chose this screenplay from the many that are thrust in her direction.  She plays a Bolshoi ballerina who oddly suffers a compound fracture of her leg during a dance performance.  After surgery and healing, the former ballerina must now find a new occupation so she can support her mother (Charlotte Rampling) who suffers from an unspecified ailment.  The job search did not last very long since evil Uncle Vanya (Matthias Schoenaerts) has a spot for her in the family business.  As bad as things probably are in Russia, they could not possibly be as bad as the awfulness shown in this movie.  Uncle Vanya, who looks a lot like Vladimir Putin, is not the nice guy we see in the early scenes.  This movie gives Russian citizens a good reason to hate American movie makers.  [JAM 3/21/2018]