Three bodies have been found buried in the snow outside a Moscow skating rink; their faces and fingertips have been cut away. Who are they? Having got hold of our attention in the way of the classical detective story, the movie maintains its grip in the same way throughout. The original Martin Cruz Smith novel, by all accounts, tried some other holds as well. They are not strictly needed. There is good theoretical mulling of the evidence, one thing follows logically from another, the scope widens, the whole hangs together, and the resolution should satisfy anyone who can be satisfied with less than Happily Ever After. Perhaps a slight blot on the ending -- a sort of disarmament allegory of standoffs, bluffs, secret alliances, double-crosses, concealed weapons, and so forth -- is that the action edges close to the farcical. And even before that: we get that old dance routine of two men tussling over one gun, the gun going off (out of frame), the two men gazing meaningly into each other's eyes, and the viewer being given several seconds to guess which of them will drop dead. With William Hurt, Lee Marvin, Brian Dennehy, and Joanna Pacula; directed by Michael Apted. (1983) — Duncan Shepherd
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