Absolutely Fantastic

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

The errors liberally sprinkled throughout this page attests to how confusing both viewers and IMDb editors have evidently found this grubby spy drama in the past. But it's long been one of the conventions of this genre that their plots are invariably both fiendish and fiendishly complicated so I took that pretty much in my stride.Tourism Vancouver aren't likely to have been pleased with Brian West's bleak winter photography of Vancouver, which makes the place look a dump. George Segal's presence evokes memories of 'The Quiller Memorandum', which ironically made Berlin look much more cheerful than Vancouver does here; while Gordon Jackson performs a similar function here to the one he performed in 'The Ipcress File'. It builds up to a satisfactorily slam-bang action finish; but I found the creepy and amoral exploitation of exiled dissident Rudolph Henke by both sides and (SPOILERS COMING) what seemed to me Segal's gratuitous killing of him at the end when doped up to the eyeballs and plainly not capable of going very far unpleasant even by the ethical standards of the genre. Segal also fortuitously lands on his feet a few more times than is probable, engineering a car crash that kills the driver but which he survives, and using a rifle to shoot down a helicopter which crash lands without devastating the centre of Vancouver. And how did Henke's abductors manage to leave so much blood behind, while still keeping him in one piece?The unexpected presence in an extremely minor role of Louise Fletcher - looking most fetching in uniform but otherwise wasted - is that the film was co-produced by her husband Jerry Blick, and that she hadn't yet made 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'. That was her next film.

George Segal is slightly out of his element in the action-spy genre, but he handles himself well enough; the major problem with "Russian Roulette" is a disjointed script, as a result of which very little happens in the film for about an hour! Once the main idea of the plot - and it's a pretty good one - is revealed, the film does improve somewhat, and there are three or four admittedly great stunts (the only memorable moments of "Russian Roulette"). Segal's co-star, Christina Raines, is pretty, she reminded me of Ali MacGraw, I wonder why she is so forgotten today. And the biggest mystery: why hire an actress of Louise Fletcher's caliber (who won the Oscar the same year for "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest") only to give her such a completely throwaway bit part? ** out of 4.

'Russian Roulette' is an independently produced thriller lensed on location in Vancouver, The Russian premier's State visit to the city, sparks an intricate And elaborate assassination plot, The ever excellent and watchable, George Segal, stars as Harry Shaver, a Royal Canadian Mountain,Cop who's currently on suspension for an undisclosed offense towards his boss, Segal becomes involved in the staking out of a Russian political troublemaker, whom is currently residing in Vancouver, The plot thickens when said troublemaker goes missing, and the arrival of a Hit-man from Detroit really gets the plot going,In a hilarious scene Segal accidentally kill's the hit-man, which leaves him with questions without answers, Segal with love interest in tow,sets out in a desperate race against time to thwart the assassination,before it's too late, which culminate's in a deadly rooftop/helicopter/ suicide bomb showdown,There is a wealth of talent involved including British favorite Denholm Elliot, as a greasy Informant, Gordon Jackson, and Cristina Raines as Segal's love interest, Robert Romanus, as an obnoxious hit-man,It would be great if they could put this on DVD as it would benefit from a spruced up restoration,

The failure of this stylish thriller, financed by Lew Grade's ITC, effectively ended the directorial career of former Altman editor Lou Lombardo. It's true that "Russian Roulette" takes a while to get going and has an unnecessarily complex plot. However, Lombardo has a nice eye for detail, uses locations well (it is set in wintry Vancouver) and gets the best out of an eclectic cast."Russian Roulette" may start slowly but it builds to a cracking climax that is a tour de force of slick editing and exciting music (from the underrated Michael J Lewis). George Segal is well-cast and looks genuinely scared in the vertiginous rooftop shootout. Worth seeing.