If ever there was an underrated murder mystery / suspense thriller, this is it.  Based on the bestselling novel by Martin Cruz Smith, this 1983 adaptation opened to mixed reviews and mediocre business.  That’s quite unfortunate, because it is a crackerjack film — complex and mysterious, starkly beautiful and exciting, and filled with rich performances.

In my first film book, Lee Marvin: His Films and Career, I comment that Gorky Park is Marvin’s last great film appearance.  He was 59 at the time and would only make two more features and a TV-movie before his premature death in 1987.  Marvin is Jack Osborne, an American businessman who may be involved in shady dealings in Moscow, and he is excellent in the role.  Anyone who wishes to see a veteran actor bring style and substance to a fairly routine villainous role should watch this movie to appreciate Marvin’s work.

As much as I admire Lee Marvin and his professionalism, there are many other and more compelling reasons to enjoy this film.  The murder mystery is quite intriguing in and of itself, and the Russian setting (although the film was actually shot in Sweden and Finland) makes the familiar police procedures inventive and fresh.  James Horner’s score is dynamic and the supporting cast is terrific:  Brian Dennehy, Ian Bannen, Joanna Pacula, Michael Elphick and Richard Griffiths.  But for me the biggest asset is William Hurt as detective Arkady Renko.

Renko is in nearly every scene of the 128-minute film and he is the key to enjoying the film.  Quite a few critics at the time did not accept Hurt as Renko and dismissed the film because they disliked the casting.  They did the film a disservice.

Hurt is terrific as Renko and delivers a subtle, nuanced star performance that carries the film.  At his best in scenes with Lee Marvin and Brian Dennehy that challenge his acting skills, Hurt imbues Renko with a plodding manner that belies the intelligence that solves case after case.  Hurt convey’s Renko’s inner longings for respect and a comprehensive sense of order about the world while allowing the character to discover emotional attachment when his primary witness, Irina (Joanna Pacula) is threatened.

Those critics who disliked Hurt in the role particularly mentioned his British accent. All of the Russian characters are portrayed by British actors (or Hurt, who spent a year in England studying drama in his youth) and thus sport British accents, which, while admittedly not authentic, certainly sound foreign to American audiences. Therefore, I feel that the British-accented Russians are perfectly appropriate to the story, much like James Mason and Richard Burton portraying German general Rommel in the 1950s.

Gorky Park is a solid police procedural, an exciting mystery, and perhaps most importantly, an excellent study of a foreign culture which is surprisingly similar to our own.  ✰ ✰ ✰ ½.  (6:2).