A ballerina forced into a sex school for Russian spies? It sounds like something from the trashier lists of Kindle self-published books. In reality no such thing would be needed: for a lot of blokes the mere offer of sex with an attractive woman would be enough, without all the emotional gymnastics; and if not, as The Americans shows us, there are other ways to lean on 'em.

And in fact, the 'Sparrow' aspect plays little part once the story gets up and running - which it eventually does. It feels as if the author merely believed it was needed to liven up what is otherwise a humdrum seen-it-before spy thriller, of the John Le Carre type but not as good. Other than - almost - full frontal nudity from Jennifer Lawrence, the most notable thing about it is that it's the first film to acknowledge explicitly that the new Russia has reverted to much the same attitudes and activities as the old Soviet Union. But even that, though true, is mainly a convenience of storytelling: it allows the whole thing to be set up as though perestroika never happened.