Kazakhstan
was the last republic to declare independence from the bad old Soviet Union.
Since then, Communist era strongman Nursultan Nzarbayev has remained the nation’s
unchallenged authoritarian ruler. Kazakhstan has remained a staunch ally of the
Putin regime and factored prominently in international corruption inquiries
(often focusing on the oligarchical petroleum industry). In short, it is
perfect but strangely under-utilized setting for an international thriller.
Kazakh filmmaker Salamat Mukhammed-Ali certainly knows the territory, but his
execution is spotty. However, he still managed to assemble a cast for the ages
in Diamond Cartel (trailer here), which opens tomorrow
in Los Angeles.
Strictly
speaking, there is no diamond cartel in Mukhmmed-Ali’s film, but whatever. Hong
Kong Triad boss Mr. Luo has agreed to sell the Star of the East diamond to
Mussa, the flamboyant kingpin of the Kazakh underworld, but their core
businesses are the traditional vices. Unfortunately for Mussa, the transaction
is interrupted by a hit squad loyal to his rival, Khazar. The diamond and the
suitcase full of cash will become a slippery Macguffin, changing hands multiple
times.
For
a good portion of the film, they will be in the possession of Aliya, a former
dealer in Mussa’s casino, who opted for life as one of Khazar assassins when
her previous boss tried to force her to become his concubine (to put it politely).
Having recently been reunited with Ruslan, the naïve love of her life, Aliya
decides to make a run for it with the guy and the loot. If they can make it out
of Kazakhstan, they might be able to start a new life, but that will be a big “if,”
judging from the in media res opening.
Cartel holds many
distinctions, but it will probably get the most attention for being Peter O’Toole’s
final film. The machine gun-wielding Tugboat is a pretty crazy note for him to
go out on, but it is a real shame the film is so conspicuously dubbed, robbing
us of his final arch line readings.
As
if that were not enough, Cartel also
features Armand Assante hamming it up as Mussa, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa playing it
cool as Khazar, Michael Madsen quickly getting killed in the ill-fated diamond
transaction, Bolo Yeung still looking fierce and totally cut as Mussa’s
henchman Bulo, and Don “The Dragon” Wilson keeping it real as Mr. Luo. The
parade of cult-action stars is nostalgic fun, but the bulk of the film is
carried by Karlygash Mukhamedzhanova and Alexey Frandetti as Aliya and Ruslan.
She could be a reasonably intense and seductive femme fatale/action figure in a
different context, but he is essentially a wall flower carried along for the
ride. Fortunately, Assante also gets a whole lot of screen time, because who is
going to stop him—and why would they want to?
