Movie tip

Red Sparrow

This is one creepy movie. You wonder if it would have been made in the post-#MeToo era, considering its plot’s dependence on men sexually harassing and trying to rape women. And then, for added fun, there are torture scenes. Jennifer Lawrence tamps down her natural vitality to play an impassive Russian former dancer who is forced into becoming a Sparrow, a spy who uses her sexuality to get the info her bosses want. Two good things in the movie: Mary Louise Parker juices things up with her too-brief appearance as a U.S. senator’s chief of staff. And most of the building exteriors are super-cool-looking; the location scout deserves a big, fat raise.