‘Eastern Promises’

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You can’t hit a grand slam every time you come up to bat.

Besides, an extra-base hit is no disgrace.

So it’s possible to cheer "Eastern Promises" as an intriguing gangster thriller — and also to note that it’s not quite up to the standard set by director David Cronenberg and actor Viggo Mortensen’s previous collaboration, "A History of Violence."

Then again, "A History of Violence" was one of 2005’s true standouts. (It finished a strong No. 2 on my "10 best" list that year, leading the pack until "Brokeback Mountain" rode into town — and into the top spot.)

"Eastern Promises," which captured the top audience award at the recently concluded Toronto International Film Festival, doesn’t have the horses to make it onto this year’s Top 10 list. (Unless, of course, I don’t see anything I like better for the rest of the year. It could happen.)

But it definitely demonstrates why Cronenberg remains one of the most fiendishly compelling directors around — and why Viggo Mortensen has become his ideal leading man.

Both like to keep things bubbling under the surface, creating a subtle but undeniable undercurrent that calls everything — and everyone — into question.

And both love to explore provocative territory in deceptively detached fashion.

Unlike far too many filmmakers who confuse in-your-face obviousness for insight, Cronenberg plays his cards close to the vest, challenging audiences to form their own conclusions. After he’s delivered a few body blows, that is.

Same goes for the sly, understated Mortensen, who understands that building a character from the inside out works much better — for the character and for the movie — than the other way around. No wonder he and Cronenberg are such kindred spirits.

Not that Mortensen’s the only one on Cronenberg’s wavelength.

Naomi Watts proves an equally persuasive presence as the movie’s dramatic catalyst. And Armin Mueller-Stahl subverts his genial, grandfatherly warmth to create a chilling portrait of business-as-usual evil.

Then again, what else would you expect from a mob kingpin?

In this case, the mob is Russian — transplanted to London, where Semyon (Mueller-Stahl) holds court at an upscale eatery, the Trans-Siberian Restaurant, that provides both a cover and a headquarters for the criminal enterprise known as Vory V Zakone.

Inevitably, Semyon has a son and heir, Kirill (Vincent Cassel, ably conveying his character’s bravado and accompanying self-doubt).

An aggressive, trigger-tempered hothead with a nasty streak — all the better to prove his power, my dears — Kirill’s not exactly crime-boss material. And his father knows it all too well.

If only Kirill were more like the inscrutable Nikolai (Mortensen), Kirill’s driver and constant companion, whose expertise extends from the London streets to banks of the Thames River. (Especially one particular spot, which Nikolai considers the best in town — when it comes to dumping dead bodies.)

Like other insular mob clans, the members of Vory V Zakone keep to themselves.

Unless and until somebody comes looking for them. Somebody like Anna (Watts), the daughter of a Russian father and British mother, who works as a hospital midwife — and wonders about a drug-addled teen (Sarah-Jeanne Labrosse) who wandered into her hospital and died in childbirth.

The only clue to the teen’s life in London: a diary, written in Russian, that contains a card for the Trans-Siberian. As soon as Anna visits there and meets the courtly Semyon — who’s very interested in the diary and its author — she knows she’s strayed into dangerous territory indeed.

Good thing, then, that Nikolai’s around, keeping a wary eye on the proceedings. To what purpose, Anna’s not quite sure — and neither are we.

Which is exactly as it should be.

As "Eastern Promises" ventures ever further into its particular heart of darkness, Steve Knight’s screenplay explores not only variations on familiar gangland rituals (such as the distinctive process by which underlings become "made" members of the mob) but questions of humanity and inhumanity.

Naturally, with Cronenberg calling the shots, the balance is far more toward the inhuman.

That’s exemplified in "Eastern Promises’ " most harrowing (and, perhaps, most pivotal) scene, in which Nikolai confronts knife-wielding killers from a rival gang — bent on payback for a previous hit — in a steam bath. Clad in nothing but a towel (which doesn’t stay on for long), Nikolai must defend himself with nothing but his smarts — and his animal instincts.

Watching the desperate, relentless brutality on display, we’re caught up in Nikolai’s fight for survival; it’s only after we’ve had a chance to catch our collective breath we can ponder, and wonder, how (and why) these humans behave so inhumanely.

They have their reasons. Some of those reasons even make sense.

As "Eastern Promises" reminds us, however, you don’t always have time to think when your life’s on the line.

Whether that’s any way to live is, of course, another matter entirely.