Siberia tells the
story of Lucas Hill (Keanu Reeves) who is an American diamond trader in Russia
trying to find his missing partner, Pyotr (Boris Gulyarin), while working on
salvaging a deal with a Russian gangster Boris Volkov (Pasha D. Lychnikoff). Pyotr
has access to a large amount of rare blue diamonds that are worth tens of
millions of dollars, but with him nowhere to be found Lucas convinces Boris to
give him two days to come up with the diamonds. Lucas heads to a remote Russian
town to track down Pyotr’s brother, hoping that he will be able to help him
track down Pyotr. Lucas takes a detour to a local bar/restaurant where he meets
Katya (Ana Ularu), which is the beginning of a strange love affair. Lucas
interacts with many characters throughout that seem to dismiss and
underestimate him, mainly because he is an American. Lucas must find a way to balance
his blossoming love interest with Katya and his quest to find Pyotr and the
diamonds as the clock is ticking down.
Siberia has many elements
of a successful thriller – Russian mobsters, missing diamonds, fights, and
affairs – but putting it all together in this case simply does not work. After
the recent success of John Wick and
Keanu’s performance in that franchise I was expecting a lot from Siberia. Needless to say it fell short
across the board. The film is boring, never finds its footing, and seems to
forget about the entire diamond storyline for long stretches. The film spirals
into an offbeat romance, focusing on Lucas and Katya’s relationship and the
awkwardness between them. Lucas should be worried about the imminent danger he
is in, but doesn’t really seem to care. The film follows his lead, it is sluggish
and just trudges along. The music is slow and stale, and the entire film lacks
energy. Siberia is a big flop and I
would steer clear –it is as exciting as the barren landscape that it is named
after.
Rating: 1 out of 5
