Drawing upon influences that include Quentin Tarantino/Guy Ritchie-style crime thrillers, high-octane Asian actioners, and old Russian Mafia movies, director Aleksei Balbanov (BROTHER) delivers a bloody portrayal of capitalism's effect on contemporary Russia.

Brothers Simon (Dmitri Dyuzhev) and Sergei (Aleksei Panin) work as assassins and errand boys for the crime boss Mikhajlovich (Nikita Mikhalkov, BURNT BY THE SUN), but their employment -- and their lives -- become threatened when they bungle a job, losing a suitcase full of top-shelf heroin.

As they struggle to recover the case before their boss finds them, the body count rises while those on either side of the law prove the permeability of that boundary. The film's ensemble cast features Russia's biggest-name actors, while the soundtrack is an edgy mix of local punk-metal acts. … More