I read a lot of reviews about this movie from Siberian people who complains about the truth of this movie. This movie is based on the Nicolai Lilin book, it doesn't want to be true it's just the movie version of the book. So yes there are a lot of things that maybe are untrue about the use and costume of the Siberian people of the 90's. About the cinematic adaptation of the book I have to say that isn't completely a success. Kolyma in the book is forced to join the army and it didn't join to find Gagarin. There is not such a big conflict between the 2 guys in the novel. As always the book it's definitely more intense of the movie, in the movie they changed to much the story for no reason. So if you can , read the book before watching the movie. So i'm not happy about all the changes they have done to the story but I have to say that on a big part of the movie you still fill the sensation to be out of the time in a desolation place in Siberia

This film - a lie from the first to the last frame. This book - a lie from the first page to the last. Bender - a city in Ukraine. A citizen of Ukraine can not fight in Chechnya. This film - a lie from the first to the last frame. This book - a lie from the first page to the last. Bender - a city in Ukraine. A citizen of Ukraine can not fight in Chechnya. This film - a lie from the first to the last frame. This book - a lie from the first page to the last. Bender - a city in Ukraine. A citizen of Ukraine can not fight in Chechnya. This film - a lie from the first to the last frame. This book - a lie from the first page to the last. Bender - a city in Ukraine. A citizen of Ukraine can not fight in Chechnya.

I've read some pretty bad reviews of this film that are unwarranted in my opinion. I'll address some of the complaints with my answers.1. The accents. American movies that contain characters who are Russian (or from that area of the globe) used bad accents. I don't particularly love it, BUT, there really isn't another way to convey the ethnic tones of these movies. American viewers don't speak any of these languages, and it would be even more stupid with American actors playing the roles in perfect English. It's easy to poke fun at, I'll admit, but it's not as badly done in this flick as some have said. Yes, there are a few rough moments, but they aren't that bad unless you're intentionally trying to nit pick. 2. The "chaotic" cut scenes. I've seen a few reviews complaining about how the sequence of the scenes. It's a bit hard at first to tell what's going on with this, but it becomes clear very quickly.3. Complaints about "Flick Knives" and gratuitous violence. Really? It's a story about a criminal ghetto. I'd imagine life was just as tough as was portrayed in the movie, and likely worse at times. Trust me, the violence isn't overplayed, and honestly there were a few places it seemed underplayed given the subject matter.I'd say just ignore the reviews and watch it if you're curious. I felt the story was engaging, the characters were interesting, and if you take a minute to think about it, the plot elements are all relevant (contrary to other reviews I've read). I gave it a 10 because I've always been interested in this part of the world, and love John Malkovich. I could see most folks landing between 7-8 if they like it, 5-6 if they didn't like it. I couldn't see rating it a 1 star as some people have done.

I love John Malkovich and every time he is on screen the movie lights up. The way he portrays the character makes you almost forget about the characters talking English for no good reason (with an accent but still). It would have made sense if they talked in their native language. Obviously something Malkovich wouldn't be able to do. Still the movie has to say something about "education" and life itself. Boys will be boys ... until they grow up.They can take different roads though, depending on the path they choose. It's obvious where this leads, though you have a distraction or two along the way (plus a time jumping theme all over the movie). That will either confuse some people (not me and a lot of others here on IMDb) or make them big fans of the movie itself. So it sets high goals, but doesn't achieve all of them. Life lessons for some, a nice story for others.