The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

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 plays Shaver, an officer with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, currently on suspension for belting a superior. He then finds himself recruited by the Special Branch (a Canadian version of the C.I.A.) to get his hands on Henke (Val Avery), a troublemaker whom it's believed will be out to get the Soviet premier Kosygin. Well, Shaver finds out that there's a more sinister conspiracy afoot, and he must rely on his own wits to survive and prevent the assassination from happening.Segal manages to overcome his rather offbeat casting with a solid heroic performance. The movie itself takes a while to really grab a hold of its viewers, but becomes quite watchable in its rousing final reel. This action sequence was actually handled by Anthony Squire, as director Lou Lombardo (usually an editor who'd cut films for Peckinpah and Altman), was often high on drugs throughout the filming. That the movie actually turns out alright is a testament to a capable cast and crew, and a reasonably engrossing story, which is based on a novel by Tom Ardies.It's nice to see a movie shot in Canada that's *supposed* to be set in Canada, and the use of the British Columbia locations is impressive. The music by Michael J. Lewis is also noteworthy. Segal is backed up by an ace group of actors, including Cristina Raines as his girlfriend, Bo Brundin as a KGB psycho, Denholm Elliott as the Special Branch agent Petapiece, Gordon Jackson as Hardison, Peter Donat as McDermott, Richard Romanus as Detroit hit-man Ragulia, Nigel Stock as Ferguson, Graham Jarvis as Benson, Louise Fletcher as Midge, and Doug McGrath as Lars.While not overly slick or distinguished, "Russian Roulette" is still a pretty good thriller, and fans of the spy & action genres should dig it.Seven out of 10.

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.

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.