Little Odessa is a 1994 American movie about the Russian-Jewish immigrant community in Brighton Beach and the bad things that happen to one particular
Dysfunctional Family. It consists of Arkady, the adulterous father who makes ends meet working at a newsstand; his wife, dying of a brain tumor; and the younger son Reuben, a soft-spoken, clever boy intent on cutting school, smoking weed, and watching movies. There is also an elder son, Joshua (
Tim Roth), who is a hitman for the
Russian Mafia and was therefore banished from home. He has to return to Brooklyn to off an Iranian jeweller, and awkwardly tries to make peace with his family in the process.
It does not go well.
This film provides examples of:
- Aloof Big Brother (Joshua)
- Big Applesauce
- City Noir: NYC is bleak and cold and people shoot each other in broad daylight.
- Bilingual Bonus: with Yiddish and Russian. Fluctuates between "ha, great to hear Russian swearing in a movie" and "wtf, could they not spend a bit more time trying to get the pronunciation right?"
- Black Sheep: Joshua's criminal ways lead to him becoming rejected by his father.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Joshua to his dad several times throughout the movie, with increasing violence.
- Career Killers: the hitmen are uniformly dressed like greasers and have to make ends meet in a sucky, bleak, poor neighbourhood.
- Downer Ending
- Dull Surprise: the expression worn by the protagonist for the length of the entire film.
- Happy Place: the final scene sees Joshua sitting alone in his car and imagining his mother, brother and himself sitting quietly together in the bedroom. This is never to be since both his mother and brother die.
- Harmful to Minors: Reuben witnessing his brother on his, er, job, and subsequently arming himself.
- Hitman with a Heart (albeit a very cold heart)
- Ineffectual Loner: Joshua.
- Lzherusskie: everybody except for some minor characters, and it shows.
- Morality Pet: Reuben and his mother for the protagonist.
- Oblivious Younger Sibling
- Shallow Love Interest: Alla, Joshua's ex. To compensate, the actress is pretty and does her job well.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: Joshua is cold, violent and not overly bright; Reuben is caring and intelligent.
- Snooping Little Kid: Reuben. He reads his father's mail and meddles in his brother's affairs, and it doesn't end well for him.
- So Okay It's Average
- Your Mileage May Vary: It got a 65% on Rotten Tomatoes and did rather well in its limited release. It also launched the career of director James Gray (who later did the Russian-American themed The Yards, We Own The Night and Two Lovers).
- The Mafiya
- The Quiet One: Joshua does not do much talking.
- Yiddish as a Second Language
- Your Cheating Heart: Arkady loves his wife, but cheats on her with a different woman.
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