Customer Reviews

PU-239

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A film with such an unusual title is bound to be interesting, and "Pu-239" certainly delivers. Timofey (Paddy Considine) is a worker at a Russian nuclear plant who receives a lethal radioactive dose and sets about providing for his family in the few days he has left to live. He does this by purloining Plutonium, chemical symbol Pu-239, not quite as well known as its cousin U-238. Shot on location, "Pu-239" is an English-language foreign film, with some familiar faces such as Rhada Mitchell as Timofey's wife, and the usual cast of colorful but unknown Russian gangsters. Least expected is the fact that Plutonium is hilarious! Paddy hooks up with Shiv, a small-time crook, and his two out-of-control associates who resort to stealing windshield wipers and dog-napping as sources of income. Laced amidst the dark humor are startlingly insightful meditations on light's wave/particle duality, or the substance of a mushroom cloud consisting of fear. Facts sprinkled throughout the movie are all accurate, such as an interesting sidebar about the painters of radium-dial watches in West Orange, New Jersey who began to die from hideous oral cancer, as they tended to moisten their paint brushes with their mouths. The combination of story, dark humor, nuclear fact, and philosophy render "Pu-239" an intelligent and worthwhile film.

PU-239 is a relativately unknown movie. I came across the preview on some other movie a few months back and was intrigued by it.

The other reviews have summed up the plot pretty well, so I won't bore you with more of that.

PU-239 is a dark suspense Russian gangster movie, with alot of comedy mixed in. The acting in the movie is pretty good, considering the mostly unknown cast.

A great dvd to check out if your looking for someting a little out of the ordinary!

Highly recommended!

Set in 1990's Russia, this compelling drama follows a scientist (Considine) who suffers severe radiation poisoning on the job. His employers claim the incident was his fault and refuse compensation, even going so far as to produce a false radiation test that downplays the extent of his exposure. Out of work, dying, and with a wife and son to look after, the desperate scientist steals a vial of plutonium with the intention of selling it on the black market. He subsequently becomes involved with some dangerous criminal types, the type that became so common in this time period in Russia, and his life becomes intertwined with theirs. The tragic drama unfolds as the man desperately seeks to make some money for his family before his inevitable death. The film, although sad and serious, is laced with dark humor throughout. Considine's character also narrates the story, and I enjoyed the rather poetic element that this adds to the film. This movie is good for both the individual story and as a glimpse into this turbulent time period in Russia in general.

I love Russian literature and films. There's a profound darkness laced with a profound sense of humanity that makes these films and books work for me. Dostoevsky, Gogol, Tolstoy, Solzhenitszyn are writers I always want to read. They show us our failures and our despairs, but they do so in such a way that we end up feeling that we can finally succeed no mater what the cost.

PU 239 is a work that comes close to a mark set by those writers. It has a hero dying of radiation poisoning who is struggling to secure some money for his wife and son so that they will be able to survive after he's gone. This hero's determination and his philosophical musings will have you thinking about the film long after you've seen it.

What doesn't work as well in the film is the comic gangsters. The plot requires them, but their silliness undermines the existential situation of the dying hero.

Another winning movie set in Russia. A worker in a nuclear plant, of the usual unsafe Russian design, is caught in an accidental radioactive steam leak. He is isolated behind sealed doors and sees his comrades look at him and walk away. When the event is over he is showered and his dosimeter badge is taken. He is told that his exposure is survivable but the ultimate blame is laid on him rather than the faulty design and protocols. He is now home with his wife and child with no job, no income, and a suspicion that he is being lied to. He finds his original dosimeter badge and sees that he has received a lethal level of exposure. Again, a Russian is dealt a deadly hand. Soon his body begins to fall apart. His hands need to be bandaged. His appearance is frightening. True to form, he hatches a plan to steal some Plutonium 239 and sell it on the black market so that his family will be able to survive without him. Nothing left to lose.

The theft itself is a little hard to believe, but when we see this poor dying man going out into an open air market with a cardboard sign reading merely "Pu239" we step into the other world. Our logical western minds shy away and say that this cannot be happening. This man is accosted by a street thug who thinks he controls the local market. Best line of the whole movie is when the thug asks our hero "What is Pooh?" What follows is a classic story of desperation, ignorance, greed, and simple stupidity. As westerners we might find this movie as being highly improbable, but as a Russian I can vouch for the reality and anguish of this film. By viewing it, Americans can maybe appreciate how dangerous the world we live in is without the added artificial threat levels being screamed at us everyday by our 'leaders'. By viewing foreign films such as this we can begin to be citizens of the world and realize that "they" are just like "us".

I rented this movie because I was very curious about the reality of nuclear materials. I was interested in the dangers of these substances and what can go wrong with their use. I got a bit of interesting bits here and there, but I got more than that in the end.

I was surprised that this movie was quite moving as the main character shows us his inspirational point of view on life as he reaches a new point in his life. Specifically, the jar, he says, is indeed more painful for the butterfly than the pins.

Comedic touches are sprinkled in throughout the movie, which offer variety in what otherwise might have been a very bleak, dim film. Overall it's unique, and I recommend it.

I love this movie. It's touching without being over the top. Beautifully done! Movie came exactly as advertised. Works great. No cmplaints!

Very good movie if you have the slightest interest or knowledge of nuclear physics. If you know nothing of this subject matter you can still watch it and enjoy it, but to really get the full magnitude of what happens at the end you have to have some knowledge of nuclear physics.

In PU-239, Paddy Considine (DEAD MAN'S SHOES) plays Timofey, a worker in a Russian nuclear power plant who gets exposed to 10x the lethal dose of radiation. With scant days to live, he steals some plutonium, leaves his wife (Radha Mitchell from PITCH BLACK, ROGUE, SILENT HILL, THE CRAZIES, and THE VISITORS) and son, and sets out for Moscow, where he hopes to sell his lethal cargo to the mob. While mostly tragic, this movie also delves into the darkly hilarious when the Russian gangsters are involved. Their psychopathy is evenly matched by their utter idiocy! The ending is especially well-done, w/ both a heart-felt finale for mother and son, and an hysterically (jet black) fitting finish for the mobsters! Highly recommended...

I had never heard of this movie before I rented it. Woe is me. The main character is very likeable and you can't help to connect with him. He is a victim of radiation exposure with hours to live. Desperate to provide a future for his wife/son, he steals a quantity of plutonium to sell it in the big city. This is a good guy doing a bad thing, and you know it. You see this poor man slowly deteriorate to his death. It is a wonderful story that makes you question, how far would you go to provide for yor family? Beautiful story.