Synopsis
Long separated from his Russian family, hitman Joshua returns to Brighton Beach for a contract killing for the Russian Mafia. His abusive father, Arkady, banned him from returning after Joshua committed his first murder. He takes up residence in a hotel, and soon everyone knows he has returned. He goes home to visit his dying mother, Irina, and prepares for the assassination, getting drawn back into the criminal community he left behind.
Votre Filmothèque
Cast
- Tim RothJoshua Shapira
- Edward FurlongReuben Shapira
- Moira KellyAlla Shustervich
- Vanessa RedgraveIrina Shapira
- Paul GuilfoyleBoris Volkoff
- Natalya AndreychenkoNatasha
- Maximilian SchellArkady Shapira
- David VadimSasha
- Mina BernGrandma Tsilya
- Boris McGiverIvan
Recommandations
- 88
ReelViews
Little Odessa is an extremely complex motion picture, layered with powerful themes and fascinating characters. - 80
The New York Times
Little Odessa might have been a great film. Instead, it is an exceptionally good one, the kind that suggests the start of a powerful career. - 80
Time Out
The film has a thesis: hitmen must have psychopathy on their CVs; but even bad guys have souls. It's Roth's tough job to illustrate this, which, in his finest performance to date, he does magnificently. - 80
Variety
A highly charged, coolly assured directorial bow graced by riveting work from a trio of accomplished leads, Little Odessa immediately etches a firm place on the map for 25-year-old New York newcomer James Gray. - 78
Austin Chronicle
Like something by Tolstoy or Dostoyevski, but -- of course -- on a much smaller, less ambitious scale, it is a work that weighs on your mind long after you leave it. - 60
Los Angeles Times
Gray hasn't filled out the emotional terrain he's surveyed here. He hasn't quite grown into the emotions he wants to put on screen. When he does, he'll come up with something lasting. - 50
Chicago Sun-Times
It seemed to me that the movie had raised too many serious issues to turn into a visual exercise at the end. It's a set piece when a dramatic scene is needed. - 50
San Francisco Chronicle
Since the hit-man career is probably one of the most familiar non-law enforcement careers in films, it should come as no surprise that Little Odessa has nothing new to say about it.
