'Black Sea' shows Jude Law's transformation.

• Jurisdiction: United States
• Author: LaSalle, Mick
• Date: 30 January 2015

Byline: Mick LaSalle

'Black Sea'

A Focus Features Film

Rating: R for language throughout, some graphic images and violence

Running time: 1 hour, 55 minutes

While the transformation of Matthew McConaughey from rom-com joke to serious actor got lots of attention a few years ago, the ongoing transformation of Jude Law from highbrow eye candy to virtuoso character actor has largely escaped notice. But in movie after movie, Law keeps showing us new sides -- a nervous wreck ("Side Effects''), an officious politician ("Anna Karenina''), a wacky Internet personality ("Contagion''), a Cockney safecracker ("Dom Hemingway'') ...

Now, in "Black Sea,'' we find him in the sort of role Sean Connery might have played in the 1970s, a working-class Scottish tough guy. It's nothing...