“Tetris” is the somewhat true story of how the popular computer game invented in the Soviet Union in the 1980s came to the West. The business moves that happened in reality are there – because in principle that is what it is, a business story – but they are packaged in a rhythmic espionage thriller in the style of the Cold War films. This includes threatening government agents, surveillance, wiretapping, beatings, a honey trap, and a car chase on the way to the airport. All in all it works beautifully, although the chase – while well staged in its own right – sharpens the excessive Hollywood seasoning that is splashed on the familiar statement that appears in the opening “based on a true story”. And the truth is, as mentioned, not an essential story about saving lives but about who will be the one who will get to make the big profits.
The hero of the film, which appeared on Apple’s streaming service, is not the Russian guy who invented Tetris, but one American (of Dutch origin) who tried to obtain the rights to distribute the game in Japan (he is married to a Japanese woman). Taron Egerton plays Hank Rogers, the owner of a computer game company who gets to know the game at a computer game show in Las Vegas and mortgages his house (this is actually a real detail) to raise the funding to purchase the rights. But then he discovers that the people he’s trying to do business with are hard-nosed capitalists and Soviets. Those who give Rogers a business backing are the good people at the Japanese computer game company Nintendo (it’s totally a black and white movie), who want to integrate Tetris into their new game console, the Game Boy. This week “Super Mario Brothers – The Movie”, based on another popular game from the company, will be released, and I wonder if the timing is coincidental.
Against the warnings, Rogers flies to Moscow with a tourist visa and makes direct contact with the game’s inventor Alexey Pajitanov (Nikita Eframov) and with the president of Alorg (Oleg Stepanko), the Russian government company that holds the rights to the game. While trying to negotiate, he discovers that his biggest rivals are the bully media tycoon Robert Maxwell (Roger Allm in a fat suit and a black wig that gives the character a cartoonish look) and his childish son Kevin (Anthony Boyle), who have a direct connection to the president of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev. What Rogers doesn’t know, and informed viewers should know, is that Maxwell is on the brink of bankruptcy. Another contender is Robert Stein (Toby Jones), who owns his own company, who has made a deal with McQusell and believes he represents him to the Russians. The only advantage of Rogers is that he is determined and brave and according to the film – an honest and decent man. Capitalism is wonderful (as long as it is held in the hands of decent people).
Egerton – who is considered a leading candidate for the role of James Bond, although he himself says that he is not suitable because he has trouble maintaining a stable weight – is a fine actor with whom it is pleasant to spend an entire film. Some of the more effective scenes are devoted to his character’s attempt to understand how the Soviet system works. As mentioned, “Tetris” is endowed with the look and monochromatic colors of espionage thrillers from the Cold War. It is surprising to discover that the main filming locations were in Glasgow and Aberdeen, two cities in Scotland that pretended to be Moscow. What adds color and fun to the texture of the film is the transitions between the scenes that are designed like computer games from the eighties. And the (real) friendship that develops between Rogers and Pejitanov under the eyes of the government agents contributes an emotional focus. The previous film of director John S. Baird was “The Fat and the Thin” from 2018 (Stan & Ollie) which told about the friendship between Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.
As usual, before the end credits and also during them, photographs (and also a video clip) of the real people are included, and some details about what happened to them later. The road there is definitely fun. Next week we will publish a review of “Air” – another capitalist story about how a salesman convinced Nike and Michael Jordan to issue a sports shoe in his name and make a lot of money.
3.5 stars. Tetris directed by: John S. Byrd. With Taron Egerton, Nikita Eframov, Toby Jones. USA 2023, 118 min.