Tetris is a biographical film directed by Jon S. Baird, starring Taron Egerton and Toby Jones.
The story of Henk Rogers who developed (or borrowed, whatever you prefer) a video game that was quite successful which maybe some of you remember: Tetris, a game so simple, exciting and addictive that “some of us” have played… a couple of quick games.
Excellent production and with a very intelligent script: good cinema.
Movie Review
Tetris takes everything it can get out of the history of the video-game, and also, with style and personality, knows how to bring out that “something more” that turns a good movie into an excellent movie.
First of all (and I will end up being right after repeating it so much): with a good script, things go better. This one has an excellent script, good dialogue and a solid structure. Moreover, it doesn’t limit itself to developing mechanically, it knows how to stamp humour and, with mathematical fluency, make jokes when it should, improvise just enough and give us the feeling of apparent fluidity of a well-constructed film.
As in the game, the pieces fit together and, in addition, there is the political plot – which these days, fits it like a glove: there were no video games in Russia at that time and Tetris was also a political challenge and an unexpected (that’s irony) marketing weapon for the commercialization of the game.
The film knows how to tell a serious (very serious) story in a comedy tone with a fast narrative pace and knows how to stop when it should, setting its own tempo (a well-written script, certainly).
Maybe, after its brilliant beginning, the story gets a little off track, that’s okay, we have another line and another piece in this game under the Iron Curtain to fix a film that would be worth it just for the history it contains and that, in addition, is well shot.
Perfect Taron Egerton. Quite the discovery, if you don’t already know him.
You will like it if you like spy movies.
Release Date
March 31, 2023
Where to Watch Tetris
Premise
It takes us back to the Cold War era to chronicle how the true story of the high-stakes legal battle to secure the intellectual property rights to Tetris unfolded.
Director
Jon S. Baird
Jon S. Baird, born 9 November 1972 in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. He is a BAFTA winning film director.
Baird has worked extensively with the BBC. His film ‘Filth’ (2013) received raving reviews and numerous awards. For HBO he directed an episode in the series ‘Vinyl’ in 2015, the show produced by Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger.
In 2022 he has directed ‘Stonehouse’, a three-part docudrama about a disgraced British MP John Stonehouse, and who subsequently faked his own death in 1974.
Cast
Taron Egerton / Henk Rogers | Toby Jones / Robert Stein |
See full credits >>
this movie is pure shit. I spent the entire duration of the film waiting for the story to have a starting point. instead it was just this cluster-fuck of bullshit that started somewhere towards the end of the story. extremely disappointed.