Gorky Park

July 20, 2011 - William Hurt finds himself left out in the cold as he tries to solve a triple murder during a Russian winter. Lee Marvin, Joanna Pacula and Briah Dennehy co-star in this suspense-filled drama from 1983.

Hurt plays Renko, the top police detective in Moscow. When a patrolman discovers three bodies buried in the city's Gorky Park, Renko gets the call. But, before he can even begin to investigate, the KGB show up. They hand the case to Renko, but he soon realizes that it's more than just a straightforward case of murder. It's a conspiracy that threatens to draw Renko into its deadly web of international corruption.

Overall review: *** (Rounding up from 2.5). I seem to recall seeing this movie in the theater when it first came out. I thought it was pretty good, but watching it all these years later, I feel like maybe that initial reaction was a little too enthusiastic. It's not a bad film, but it's longer and more convoluted than it needed to be, I think. There's also the matter of the accents. For the most part, the actors who play Russians speak in British accents. I guess that's so they won’t be confused with the actors who play Americans and speak in American accents. But, Hurt's "British" accent is really weird and affected. I found it distracting.