The movie shows how modern authority figures gained their power and capital. A lot of them came from not so clean jobs and the movies shows details of that.Two guys - Simon (Duzhev) and Sergey (Aleksey Panin) - are working for a local mobster (Mikhalkov) as negotiators (extortion specialists actually) and killers. They are not brain surgeons and are quick to pull out a gun, which always puts them in different awkward situations. Considering there are competitors such as crooked cop, local dumb criminals and other low-life element, Simon and Sergey are in for a fun ride... Expect lot of gunshots and a sea of blood.The movie has gathered a great number of Russian cinema stars even in episodic roles (Andrey Panin is an architect, Andrey Krasko is an unlucky neighbor, Dmitriy Pevtzov is a drug-dealing lawyer, etc.), which makes the movie so much fun to watch. Under a virtuoso management of the director Aleksey Balaganov all characters are simply dumb and extremely standardized, which makes it look like a joke.Just like Guy Ritchie's movies this one can not really be taken too seriously. On the other hand it's too much dark humor and too much blood to be considered a comedy.Just keep in mind that it is a true biography of some today's Russian politicians. Perhaps, that will leave you thinking.p.s. "The Russian Ethiopian" is absolutely hilarious!

As several other posts mentioned, this film is sort of like a Russian version of Snatch. This is no masterpiece, but it is fun to watch, as long as the cartoonish violence does not turn you off. As others mentioned before, this truly is a collection of Russian acting talent. I don't remember Mikhalkov having so much fun playing a bad guy since Svoi sredi chuzhih, chuzhoi sredi svoih, I haven't seen Statskiy Sovetnik yet , I hear he is quite good in that. To me personally it was fun to compare and contrast the way Zhmurki portrayed the 1990s Russia versus Brigada and Bumer. It is a shame that this movie will not be widely available in USA, because I think it is on par with all the Asian gangster flicks Blockbuster seems to be stocking up on.

I don't expect an excellent movie from Balabanov, but this film is really awful. The only thing that good in it is a wonderful star cast - Nikita Michalkov, Panin, Dugev, Dmitri Pevtsov, Garik Sukachyov and others. That is a reason why I don't give this movie the worst mark.This film contains violence, strong language, blood so It will be better for children not to watch this. But adults, I suppose, will prefer to watch other movies like "Sin City" The is also an unexpectedly end in this film. I don't expect it. As for me this film is rather strange. I think that many people agree with me. To sum up I advise not to spend money for this.

Well, the movie is very well done technically... Looks exactly like all these "bandits/gangs" Russian movies from perestroika times. Definitely inspired by "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" movie takes another direction and shows us the REAL world of early 90s violent gang wars. Actors are great and atmosphere is superb. I have never enjoyed a Russian mafia movie (Except for Balabanov's "Brother"), but this one got me. The movie takes place in Nizhny Novgorod (Gorky at the time), not Moscow! This is my first complain about the movie. Driving scenes are poorly cut, and I used to live in this city and I notice that in one shot the car is going one direction, but in the next shot it's going the opposite way! You have to pay more attention to things like that (I know that other people who are unfamiliar with this city are not gonna notice that). Another thing is WHY somebody came up with this movie? It shows you the real life as we all know it? If you live in Russia, just get out on a street and look around, very little have changed!