Confusing and bloated post WWII crime drama

Rating: 6/10 (18 April 2015)

CHILD 44 (2015) ** Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace, Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Paddy Considine, Jason Clarke, Vincent Cassel, Charles Dance. Confusing and bloated post WWII crime drama about a Soviet military policeman (Hardy with a borscht thick Russkie accent) embroiled in a lengthy investigation of a series of child murders while the Stalin-set government attempts a cover up of a serial killer loose. The screenplay by veteran Richard Price is all over the place and never finding its exact groove: action thriller? murder mystery? hero redemption flick? Based on a series of novels by Tom Rob Smith the potential for a franchise shoots itself in the foot with a brooding sometimes clueless protagonist with brute force and very little else. (Dir: Daniel Espinoza)