Moscow on the Hudson

Robin Williams became famous, I think, for his stand-up comedy, like his idol Jonathan Winters, but do you realize how many movies this guy has made over the years? He's really become quite a film star and is especially good playing against-type as a criminal or simply as a wacko (see "One Hour Photo?")

Anway, this was an early Robin Williams film in which he plays a Russian musician defecting to the United States. He ("Vladamir Ivanoff") first hides out in a big store in New York City before being taken in as an immigrant by a black guy (can you say PC?) Williams does an outstanding job speaking Russian, by the way, as opposed to most English-speaking actors.

There really isn't much of a plot here, just slices of life, if you will, some of it with the usual Liberal promiscuous (i.e. "I'm a liberated woman and if I stay the night, don't misinterpret that I want to get involved with you," the Italian tells the Russian. I can think of a few more accurate descriptions that the word "liberated.")

All in all, despite the premise and talents of Williams, this was only so-so. It kind of runs out of steam halfway through and it's hard to maintain interest in the final 40 percent of it. Actually, I like Williams better when he plays more serious roles like this although I'm not sure if he himself was ready to play it straight this early in his career. He's just too tempted in this film to produce comedy. He's a talented and very strange guy; this film reflects that.

This is THE ONLY movie I've seen that truly shows life in the Soviet Union, which is made in the West.

This is a great movie! It really hits on why people tried to run from the Soviet Union, the oppression there and the taste of freedom in the USA. It is extremely realistic! We were ashamed at some points in the movie associating ourselves with the former fellow countrymen. But the showed THE TRUTH! All of the things shown used to happen in real life.

Robin Williams was brilliant. He spoke Russian with almost no accent, which was amazing!

I am from the Soviet Union so I know what I'm talking about. Nearly all of the rest of the movies are not more than a joke when it concerns reflecting life in Russia or Soviet Union. Even in the Air Force One (with Harrison Ford!) I was laughing like crazy when they showed supposedly Russian Prison.

So, all of you lucky to be born in freedom, please see this movie and you maybe will start thinking why you are so lucky and how exciting but difficult is to be an immigrant!

Manhattan looks so much more varied and gritty and real and less mall-ified than it does today in this, Paul Mazursky's 1984 love letter to the American way, and one of the last unambiguously patriotic mainstream American movies. (It's very much a product of its Reagan time, right down to the casual homophobia.) Robin Williams, for once not twinkling too hard or overworking his virtuosity or adorableness, is an Everyman Russian who unexpectedly defects in Bloomingdale's and goes on to live the immigrant experience, suffering urban indignities and romantic angst along the way. His worklife is a little easier, his economic situation a little less treacherous, and the people he meets a little nicer than they would be in real life. For all that, in its celebration of the melting pot and its warm embrace of the American urban landscape, the movie moved me to tears.

The movie released in 1984 but I saw it only 2 years ago. I'm from former USSR and this film was prohibited in the Soviet Union.I think it's the best American film about America itself:sometimes fun,sometimes sad.It's useful especially for Russians who want to leave poor Russia for the US and release their 'Russian-American dream'.It's also the best film about the former USSR,its citizens' way of life,its lines to shops,surveillance of the KGB and many other bad things.I'm a history teacher in high school and I demonstrate this film to my young RUSSIAN students in Russian history class.Besides a very creditable performance of Robin Williams,Savely Kramarov.Very clever movie !

This movie is the story of a Russian immigrant to America. We can all relate to it in that we all have had dreams and then lived them only to discover that our dream may not have been all it was cracked up to be. The movie is all Robin Williams, it is an excellent showplace for his many talents. He is very much like Charlie Chaplin and Red Skelton in that they can be very funny and also very sad, often at the same time. The movie is set in New York City, but everyone is from somewhere else in the world, all trying to make a new life there. Williams' character is very multi-level and rich. He is not merely a clown, you really do get under his skin and understand his motives. The movie can strike some as sad in that Robin's character has a deep sense of melancholy about him, from his days as an unhappy Russian musician to his days as a "free" american. We sense his deep sadness behind the laughs. Recommended if you are a fan of Robin Williams or just need a pickup. This would make a good Fourth Of July tradition movie to watch.