Moscow on the Hudson

Columbia Pictures | Release Date: April 6, 1984

7.0	USER SCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 6 Ratings

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DawdlingPoetNov 26, 2021

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The first thing I'd say is that there are a lot of subtitles present for the first twenty minutes or so of the film and thus if you don't like relying on subtitles to follow a story, at least for a while, then this may well put you off. This is at the start, when Vladimir is in Russia. There is some quite witty dialogue present, some good comedy but of course baring in mind that this is an American film and the relationship between America and Russia hasn't been, shall we say great, then I suppose I did question how much of a caricature the characters were but then obviously this isnt intended to be taken entirely seriously. I did find myself questioning how likely some of the Russian translated/subtitled dialogue was - it seemed pretty Americanised to me but then I guess I wouldn't necessarily know how Russians speak? thats probably me being a bit picky. There is a sort of slapstick element to the comedy and the characters in this film, I felt - in fact I thought it reminded me a bit of the various Police Academy films in terms of characterisations and a sort of sense of wackiness it contained, with the characters being fairly wacky and one or two being especially stern and subversely mocked as authority figures. What is different with this film compared to the Police Academy films, however, is that I feel this features some slightly wittier comedy, although it does rely on fairly visual comedy at times, with chases on foot and facial expressions present. I found the story quite interesting, in as much as there's a good depiction of his family and background in Russia before he arrives in New York, which makes him more easy to understand or feel sorry for I suppose.

The music is quite lively and enthusiastic and some of the camera angles and movements are a bit jerky and may not be greatly appreciated by those who suffer from motion sickness potentially(!). I certainly found this to be an entertaining film, if a little slow to build up plot wise at the start, it does well at portraying the multi-cultural side of New York City. It was released in 1984 and thus it does have quite an 80s feel to it, if you know what I mean, as far as fashion and TV etc. is concerned. I did feel that on a few ocassions, there was a slightly uncomfortably mocking tone to racial depictions but for the most part its quite light hearted. I felt this was quite a good film at depicting someone who is out of their depth, the whole adjusting to a new foreign culture side of things. Ivor is quite an introverted character at times, in that he's softly spoken and tries to stay in the background although he's also somewhat of a pervert at times but he does have a charm about himself, if he isn't also a bit of an awkwardly bumbling fool at moments.

The actions of one or two characters surprised me at times, seeming to go against the stance they seemed to hold earlier, like the Bloomingdales security guard who takes Vladimir in, to live with him. I noticed that the time scale seemed a bit confusing, in as much as we're barely shown him working in the circus in NYC one second and the next he's in a bus, heading to Bloomingdale's and being told he'll be flying back out to Russia later that day. Another film that this reminded me of in terms of themes and similar character depictions, is one called The Terminal starring Tom Hanks, although thats set entirely in a New York airport. If I'm remembering right, they both feature characters with a real love of music and a musical talent - in this film, Vladimir is a passionate saxophone player.

I found it interesting following some of what Vladimir says, his perceptions of his identity, how he viewed things in Russia and where he stood. I found this to be quite a watchable film, fairly entertaining and amusing in parts - it has a bit of a charm about itself, though I'm not sure there's much else I could add.

Robin Williams puts in a decent performance as a predictably quirky and somewhat hyperactive in some respects character. I'd say its pretty watchable and it has its moments as far as comedy is concerned but I wouldn't say its one of the funniest films I've ever seen either. Its very much a 1980s film I'd say, which could be seen as a good thing or a bad thing but I suppose thats down to personal tastes and opinion(?), so I'll maybe opt for the undecided option, as far as recommendations go.… Expand

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stevekmJul 23, 2023

Not what I expected from a Robin Williams movie. A look at how someone from another country sees and learns to live in the US.

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