After serving prison time in France for an art heist, he returns to his Russian home to investigate the circumstances surrounding the brutal murder of his son Jeremy three months earlier.

[16] The film was very not well received in France,[17][18] and generally considered a flop in its US release, with many US sources describing Depardieu's girth as making him unbelievable as an action hero.

[5] San Francisco Weekly wrote, "The 66-year-old Depardieu was no action hero even in his prime, and as his girth now rivals Paul Masson-era Orson Welles, we're meant to believe he strikes fear into his enemies".

[7] They did, however, speak well toward the film's cinematography, expressing pleasure at the director's "delivering the genre staples – car chases, gun battles, a little torture (a reluctant informer), female flesh and endless dark alleys and mean streets – and Moscow is wall-to-wall with photo ops, from the winding Neva River to the Cathedral of St.

[8] The reviewer wrote the film was a "hackneyed jumble ... a fiery car chase, a couple of shootouts and an eyes-averting torture scene fill this competently shot movie's action quota.