Platon

 (2008)

Platon is a recent Russian movie about the new Russia, in which there is much money to be made by those amoral enough to do what needs to be done. The lead character (Platon) is a young, clean-cut pimp who takes willing, bored girls out of the small towns of Russia and imports them to Moscow as upscale hookers. The entrepreneur gets himself in trouble when he gets his personal life and his business life jumbled. He puts himself in a compromising situation that allows a rich sheik to marry Lyuba, the one girl Platon cares for. The sheik does reward Platon handsomely, so the pimp then spends a lot of time trying to forget his error by having sex, enjoying a massive amount of money, and staring soulfully into the middle distance. The cures do not work, and he still wants Lyuba back, so he approaches the sheik with a proposal ... only to find out that he is too late.

In other words, it seems like a semi-ambitious Italian film from the 70s, with the usual implied message about how amoral behavior, no matter how lucrative, always leaves the anti-hero alone and unhappy. There are no new wrinkles other than that the Mastroianni role is now played by a present-day Russian, and the part of Rome is played by Moscow.

Yeah, whatever. As faux-Connery would say on Celebrity Jeopardy, "I'll take alone, unhappy, and wealthy for $1000, Alex."

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Our Grade:

If you are not familiar with our grading system, you need to read the explanation, because the grading is not linear. For example, by our definition, a C is solid and a C+ is a VERY good movie. There are very few Bs and As. Based on our descriptive system, this film is a:

C-

It's a competent film, but one of no special merit. The IMDb score is about what I guessed it would be.

NUDITY REPORT

• There are two topless party girls that Platon turns to when he's trying to forget Lyuba.

THE CRITICS AND ACADEMIES

THE BOX OFFICE

Unknown