Back in the U.S.S.R.

So this cool Whaley guy has young Jenny as partner in 1991 and the next year, he goes to Moscow to shoot with Natalya, the best Russian actress ever! I would be him i would consider my career as a winning one just for those 2 productions! Sure this movie may not have the best story for a thriller but it has the unique opportunity to have been shot entirely on Moscow and just after the collapse of CCCP! So every single minute of it is worthy the watching because you really discover a totally different country : streets, buildings, homes, fashion, everything is familiar but strange… How many American movies can offer you so much new stuff ?? As for Natalya, she was totally great : dynamic, smiling, careful and full of life ! So at the end, it may not be the movie of the century but i rank it among my best because we don't see anymore like this today, especially as Natalya nearly stops doing movies after

Why is everybody describing this movie as a thriller ? It isn't at all , this is a comedy and a rather good one. I really loved it. If you ever have been there at that time (1992) you will recognize it. And mostly visitors of Russio in general love it of they never will go back. Beside this I loved the camera-work, careful lightning and the vivid editing of the film. The difficult language exercise is acceptable realized and for the music : the Russian version of the Beatle-song Back in the USSR was as an extra for me with a good cup of coffee. I can see that movie again and again. It will never get an Oscar or whatever other price, but it should have some for his smooth entertaining character with a little bit spirit for the connoisseurs. Comedy's are not my cup of tea, but this one has stolen my heart.

On his last day on vacation in Moscow, a young American's (Frank Whaley) attempts to get laid are sidetracked by a search for a stolen icon with the most preposterous set of plot twists imaginable. Worth watching (perhaps) as the first U.S. production to be filmed entirely in Russia, and much of the visual tour of Moscow is very impressive. Also, many of the performances by the Russian cast, especially co-star Natalya Negoda, are excellent. The film is fast moving, and the motivation and twists, especially the premise, are so ridiculous that one doesn't need to stop and wonder if they're believable -- they quite obviously aren't. Painless to watch if you're not too demanding.

I can sort of understand the confusion of anyone watching that film who is not familiar with the era and the subject matter. For those - movie makes no sense whatsoever making. Causing annoyance for the time wasted. One of the reasons (and there are few) I have totally loved the movie is that it hits the spot. It depicts something that is no longer there. The grotesques are right on the money. From the trashy metal band (that is surprisingly still around with the same stupid look sporting lack of personal hygiene) to stupid dance moves and overblown interest of some local youths to all things American. Polansky was awesome BTW. So if you are born in the sixties and ever been to the USSR in the eighties - there is a very good chance you will love that movie.

Nothing works in this absolutely witless teen fantasy, a lame Hitchcock rip-off about a stolen Russian icon and the plucky young American tourist who has to find it, pursued all the while by Soviet cops, Mafia killers, American embassy stooges, the Russian Orthodox Church, evil art dealers, assorted black marketeers (including a presumably desperate Roman Polanski), and the lovely Natalya Negoda, doing a somewhat sanitized variation of her delinquent character role from 'Little Vera'. Why travel all the way to Russia to make such a bone-headed, embarrassing movie, when even the local actors are so unconvincing? The answer is obvious: the film looks as if it was produced by the Moscow Tourist Council, with the full support of a government anxious for western currency, and eager to cash in on the promotional value of a slick, action-packed comedy caper filmed in their backyard. Ship this one to a distant Gulag.