Unlike the eye-rolling that I experienced when I heard they were making a Tetris movie, they didn’t wind up making a fictional story about geometric shapes who live and learn and love. No, this film is about the international licensing rights of the video game to arcades, PC, console, AND hand-held. Sounds thrilling, don’t it?

Well, actually the real story of the Tetris license is pretty convoluted and full of duplicity. Developed in the Soviet Union by Alexey Pajitnov, it involves various international Capitalists trying to obtain the rights to the game from a Communist nation. While I’m sure the real story invited some KGB eyes, this film cranks up the spy fiction by a couple of notches. It might just win the Argo Award for Most Extraneous Car Chases in an Otherwise True Story.

As a drama about corporate shenanigans over software licensing rights, it could have been done better. I think the actors are doing the work but the script and direction are a little lackluster. I think back to The Social Network or even Pirates of Silicon Valley… two films that crackled with more energy and better storytelling.

As a spy thriller, it just isn’t good enough to put doubt on the backburner. If this movie had ended at about the hour twenty mark and skipped the spy story fiasco, it would have been better served the film.

I’m kind of mixed on the flick but its entertaining enough to get a mild recommendation. We’d have been better served though by a solid documentary about the same subject.

Score: 76