A Gentleman in Moscow

I really enjoyed the first episode, and look forward to the next.

Here's the deal: if you don't know the book, and you're looking for action, this won't be the show for you.

If you do know the book, you'll likely love it.

If, however, you don't know the book, and you enjoy a slow burn with great acting, you may be in luck.

Taking place shortly after the revolution, the plot revolves around the life of one of the last aristocrats of Russia. He's been imprisoned for life in a hotel, if he ever leaves, he'll be killed on the spot. Ejected out of his posh suites, he's forced to live in old servants quarters in the attic.

Episode one shows us a glimpse of his past, and gives us a sampling of his character. The Red Guard are everywhere, and have filled some of the hotel positions with spies, looking for traitors. Anyone deemed a threat is taken out of view and summarily executed by a bullet to the head.

It's a nice balance of whimsy and darkness, with a creature of politics and privilege navigating the murky waters of a revolution in progress. Will he survive? Will he be able to use his connections and intelligence to escape?

For myself, I can't wait to see where the story leads....

I LOVED the book LOVED IT . I have anxiously waited for the adaptation .

1) DEAR PRODUCERS ... stop rewriting history !! The Black actors were great ! BUT there were basically no black in the Soviet Union then and now . This drives me CRAZY. Something campy like Bridgerton, I could ok , let it go . BUT not in a serious show where the HISTORY is central to the plot .

2) I was not expecting Ewan McGregor as Rostov. I am DELIGHTED by his performance. I think he did FANTASTIC .

3)The directing and cinema photography was sublime.

4) The actor that plays the evil commie hotel manager did a wonderful job .. I have pure hatred for him.

I gave this 8/10 because of color blind casting. I would have done less except everything else was superb .

A Gentleman in Moscow is a wonderfully entertaining novel, full of pathos and subtlety.

I recently read an article where the author Amor Towles gave the green light on this adaptation and is Executive Producer. So I believed it to be in safe hands.

After watching two episodes I can say the cinematography, production and costume design are top rate. The casting is not. Ewan McGregor is a fine actor, however he cannot disguise entirely his Scottish accent which is jarring for a Russian Count. Some of the other actors come across as caricatures.

Because of the diverse casting policies now, one of the Russian Bolsheviks is played by a black man with dreadlocks which clearly would not exist in the 1920's.

History whether fact or fiction should be accurate in every way in my opinion.

I won't be bothering with the next episodes. I want to keep my memories of the book intact.

Great story line. I have not read the book but would like to point out that Russia's Black population has been, and still is near zero.

I understand the need to maintain an unbiased acting crew thus the description should be changed to Fictional Drama.

The series is entertaining but certainly not historical. Ewan McGregor does an excellent performance as the victimized product of the Russian Revolution.

For those unfamiliar with actual history the importance of informing the viewers that the show is an entire work of fiction by using a period in time and place to create a fairytale, which is what a Gentleman in Moscow is.

I loved the book A Gentleman in Moscow so much that I read it as slowly as possible so I could savor every beautifully written page. I was was looking forward to the show and liking it well enough until the second episode when diverse Bolshevik and Russian characters started appearing which is completely historically inaccurate. It's frankly ludicrous and does such a disservice to the book I love so much, because otherwise the set, costumes, hair, etc are appropriate. The casting is distracting and makes it hard to enjoy the show. Why not cast ethnic Russians and stay true to the book?

This show also isn't going to age well given the historical inaccuracies. Disappointed.