This movie is very Russian. It's not intended for foreigners and will never work as an international film. You have to have lived there, to have feared to go out of the house after nightfall because of street shootings and grenades blowing up offices in a market sharing war of various mafia groups. You have to understand what a "thief in law" (вор в законе)means as a concept (a concept rather vague even to most Russians - and no, this concept is not what it sounds like literally, don't be misled that the term speaks for itself), you have to be able to relate to a bright person who found himself in a dog-eat-dog reality where intelligence alone isn't enough to sustain basic survival. This movie is GREATLY about being able to read the Russian reality between the lines. If you weren't there, you most likely won't get it and will join the thong of those who give this movie anything below 8/10 with comments about underdeveloped characters. Trust me, they are very well developed, you just don't get it, can't read between the lines. It's sort of like saying that Joyce's "Ulysses" is boring and conceded: most just don't get it.
Review of Tycoon: A New Russian
