J.T. Walsh, James Fox, John Mahoney, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Michael Kitchen ...( see more  see more... ) , Michelle Pfeiffer , Roy Scheider , Sean Connery

An expatriate British publisher unexpectedly finds himself working for British intelligence to investigate people in Russia.

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43% liked it

6,885 ratings

R, 126 min.

Directed by: Fred Schepisi

Release Date: December 19, 1990

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DVD Release Date: December 26, 2001

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Stats: 156 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (156)


  • January 7, 2007
    A cold war thriller cum romance that's all talk and no action. Very, very boring.
  • July 11, 2007
    Tame but watchable spy romp.
  • June 1, 2007
    Great.... right up until the lame ending.
  • December 28, 2009
    Very good actors.

    And for once a happy ending that doesn't involve American or Birtish winning in a Russian movie.

    Great respect of the russian style in the photography of the movie.
  • August 1, 2009
    If I had to judge the overall film, I would say it´s a 2.5 stars, because most of the film it has a slow rhytm and you feel it is a too often seen story. However, the ironic sense of humour, the subtile intelligence, the british style of this John Le-Carré story, and more importa...( read more)nt, the strong conclussions of the end (not by obvious, less important, and expressed in a way they seem new), make it 3 stars worth. Of course, fantastic Sean Connery, who is the rock on which the movie is builded.
  • June 21, 2009
    Just saw this movie. Very long and very dull. All talk and very little action. You can skip this one.
  • June 14, 2009
    I want to see it based on the soundtrack alone
  • June 1, 2009
    Muy buena e intersante
  • April 9, 2009
    No thanks - Not interested.
  • December 7, 2008
    This is a good movie

    Plot: Intelligent casting, strong performances, and the persuasive chemistry between Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer prove the virtues in director Fred Schepisi's well-intended but problematic screen rea...( read more read more... )lization of this John ...( read more)Le Carré espionage thriller. At its best, The Russia House depicts the bittersweet nuances of the pivotal affair between a weary, alcoholic London publisher (Connery) and the mysterious Russian beauty (Pfeiffer) who sends him a fateful manuscript exposing the weaknesses beneath Soviet defense technology. Connery's Barley is a gritty, all-too-human figure who's palpably revived by his awakening feelings for Pfeiffer's wan, vulnerable Katya, whose own reciprocal emotions are equally convincing. Together, they weave a poignant romantic duet.

    The problems, meanwhile, emanate from the story line that brings these opposites together. Le Carré's novels are absorbing but typically internal odysseys that seldom offer the level of straightforward action or simple arcs of plot that the big screen thrives on. For The Russia House, written as glasnost eclipsed the cold war's overt rivalries, Le Carré means to measure how old adversaries must calibrate their battle to a more subtle, subdued match of wits. Barley himself becomes enmeshed in the mystery of the manuscript because British intelligence chooses to use him as cat's paw rather than become directly involved. Such subtlety may be a more realistic take on the spy games of the recent past, but it makes for an often tedious, talky alternative to taut heroics that Connery codified in his most celebrated early espionage role.

    If the suspense thus suffers, we're still left with an affecting love story, as well as some convincing sniping between British and U.S. intelligence operatives, beautifully cast with James Fox, Roy Scheider, and John Mahoney. Veteran playwright Tom Stoppard brings considerable style to the dialogue, without solving the problem of giving us more than those verbal exchanges to sustain dramatic interest. --Sam Sutherland
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The Russia House Trivia


  • What actor links The Wind and the Lion, Family Business, The Presidio, PLaying By Heart, First Knight and The Russia House?   Answer »
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