Parents on a Strict Regime: A Wild Ride or a Total Letdown?

I was in a great mood after watching that Scandinavian black comedy, The Last Viking, but then it took a nosedive. I mean, I was expecting a lighter tone, less drama, and more of a flat humor like the kind you'd find in STS shows. But instead, the movie that popped up in the recommendations was Parents on a Strict Regime, which is from three years ago.

Emma Stone in WichitaIt's a Christmas-themed movie about the moral transformation of a greedy mayor who's holding the city's infrastructure hostage and lining his pockets with bribes. Yeah, because that's exactly what you want to watch during the holiday season, right?

What a wild ride! Locking up your adult son in a makeshift cage and teaching him a lesson is just the kind of thing you'd expect to see in a holiday movie. When Vera Nikolaevna fires back at the psychologist with that tired old phrase, 'If you can't take the heat, stay out of the kitchen,' it's like she's saying, 'Hey, I'm a mom, and I know what's best.' But that doesn't automatically make her an expert on parenting, does it? First of all, the whole kidnapping thing? It's been done to death in thrillers about psychopaths holding people captive in basements or cages. But comedies about it? That's a new one. Of course, there are 50 excuses for the con artist - he's a thief, he disrespects his parents, and so on. But instead of laughing it off, the audience is left feeling uneasy and uncomfortable with the absurdity of the situation.

I'm not a fan of stories where people get kidnapped and held against their will, even if they're a total scumbagSecondly, the whole thing is just too simplistic. The performance is flat, like watching a guy get beaten up in a old puppet show. The mayor is dressed in a kid's onesie, taken out for a walk on a leash, and taught a lesson with hard labor and a few whacks with a stick. Yeah, that's hilarious. Not.

Thirdly, the movie is just plain weird. There's Tkačuk's bare butt on screen with all sorts of bruises. They're getting whipped with a belt, or stuck in a bathtub (looks like he's got a wound on his leg, not his fifth point of contact). At least the mayor jumps out of the bathroom in his underwear, not in whatever he was born in.

Why didn't they make a joke about the lover while the husband was away on business? Fourthly, the confrontation between helpless intellectuals and a thug of a son is sad, not funny. Is it really funny when Fрейндлих and Адабашьян, who are of such an advanced age, have to put up with all sorts of nonsense? Either get parents who are younger and more suitable for this kind of conversation, or get an Odessa mom who's always giving her son a hard time, so the dialogue is more even. Fifthly, even though the movie is airtight and doesn't imply a generous change of locations, it feels like they decided to save some money and film it at the director's dacha. A painting by Vermeer in oil

ACTING PERFORMANCE. Alyssa Fрейндлих and Alexander Адабашьян - a pair that's too soft for the roles of self-proclaimed revolutionaries against corruption in the realities of a small town. Their son's words hurt them to the core, no matter how hard they try to appear indifferent and not get their pride wounded. The parents can't give a worthy verbal retort, so they can't even get a tennis set going with witty remarks and sarcasm.

Eugene Tkačuk as the mayor is someone to hug and cry with. The 90s-style outfit looks better on him than the business suit. He acted decently, not as bad as Prince Mennyshkov in "The State". However, the situation is more like a pair of respectable-looking maniacs picked up a homeless guy and are feeding him a line that he's their son. Impressions. The creators of this film took the road less traveled. Making fun of a bureaucrat is just a cheap shot for 87% of the people. As you're yelling at the screen, 'That's what they get!' But, as we all know, a good scolding isn't a solution to all problems, and Russian cinema is full of 'Eddingtons' - films that try to be complex but end up being a mess. It's not funny, it's not educational, it's not smart... it's just plain nasty and sad.

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