ANORA is not your typical heroine. Nor is the movie ANORA your typical comedy. It's atypically disarming with Mikey Madison in the lead as Ani, an exotic dancer who gets romanced by a young Russian, Ivan. Ivan (Mark Eydelsheyn) plays the prodigal son of wealthy oligarch parents meets Ani at the topless strip club where she works. Ani gets assigned to entertain Ivan because she speaks Russian. Luckily for her, Ivan is a big tipper and she happily agrees to see him outside of work. Ani arrives at his home and thinks she hit the jackpot with a wealthy client who can't seem to get enough of her. The two negotiate a rate for her to spend a week with him (not unlike "Pretty Woman"). However, unlike "Pretty Woman" Ani has a lot more going for her than just a dazzling smile. Ani is more than just a street smart sex worker. She's totally captivating and heartbreaking. When Ivan proposes marriage on their Vegas spending spree we watch her fairytale romance become a nightmare. Ivan's extravagant lifestyle and hard partying dazzled Ani, as did the three carat ring and sable fur coat. The appeal begins to wear thin as she realizes that her spouse after a quickie Vegas wedding, is a louse. Ivan is a loser with no interests outside of sex and video games. The honeymoon is definitely over after Ivan's parents get wind of this whirlwind marriage and send their lackey Priest and Russia thugs to end it. Ivan makes a break for it when the Russians barge into their home and abandons Ani who gets tied up by the bumbling Russian mobsters but not before she lands a few blows of her own. The movie takes an energetic turn for the better as the battered thugs with Ani in tow, head out to find Ivan. The Russians in order to end this marriage and Ani to prove their marriage is the real deal. Their search takes them on an excruciatingly exhausting and hilarious escapade over night through Brooklyn haunts. They locate an inebriated and in-flagrant Ivan. He's dragged out and taken to meet with his furious parents who've just landed in their private plane. His parents commandeer the situation and their son. With the dawn of day Ani sees things in a clear light but she does not go quietly into the night. Madison's tour-de-force performance portrays a tough broad with unabashed intensity so convincingly that when her carapace finally cracks, we're taken aback by her vulnerability and emotional pratfall. The biting, social parody of the wealthy and entitled assuming a given supremacy is vicious. Even so, the affecting power of ANORA is the budding alliance that arises between Ani and the young Russian thug; who were both being exploited. ANORA is oftentimes salacious and sexual but it's more often an alluring and touching film thanks to an incredible performance by Madison which is sure to be noted.
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