GurlyIamBeach Instant Favorite.

Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Brendon Jones It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

gbryl Just found out about this movie and watched it as a result of the untimely death of Robbin Williams.I lived in the Soviet Union until I was 23, and I don't understand those reviewers saying that this movie accurately portrays life in the SU.First, the bus is totally un-SU, has those metal loops hanging from the horizontal metal bar handles, a typical American bus, not a Soviet bus, which is immediately obvious to the naked eye. This is minor, though.Nest, there are the toilet paper line scenes, which are totally lame. We would use napkins or newspaper as toilet paper in SU, but we didn't have the long lines do buy toilet paper as the movie claims to project.Then there's a reference to Russian women having a mustache, which is totally ridiculous. Another piece of retarded cold-war American propaganda. Anyone who's been to the SU or Russia knows that Russian women are 10, 20, no 100 times hotter than their American counterparts (over 50% of which are statistically obese to say the least). Not to mention American women's attitude that has resulted in American men being the #1 men by country to marry foreign women. Enough said.In general, each country, the SU and the US, had positives and negatives about living there. But life in the SU was superior after all (I left SU only after it broke up in 1991). People in the SU had far more of the one precious resource that Americans could only dream of having (and still do): TIME. People in the SU had a roof over their head, food, and other basic necessities of life, while at the same time having a ton of free time, including time to pursue their dreams and hobbies. That is why the arts (ballet, literature, etc.) were so developed in the SU compared to the US: people actually had time on their hands to pursue those interests and hobbies. The US was, and still is, a bunch of debt slaves that live thinking how to make enough money to pay the next set of their bills, and have no time for real life.Not to mention that American kids grew up (and do even more so now) inside, seeing nothing but virtual reality, playing computer games, etc., while we in the SU were free to play out in the street all day long without being worried about drugs, psychos, kidnappers, etc. At age 10, I could take a train to a different city to go to a market to buy parts for building a personal computer, for instance. Good luck doing that in the U.S. which doesn't even have a transportation system to this day. And I never heard about drugs until the SU broke up. Ultimately, no society is perfect, but a good part of this movie is just a bunch of cheap propaganda. Of course, some people would defect from the SU, but so did people from the States (look up Dean Reed, for instance).I liked the line "I have not had a job for 8 years. Welcome to the USA!" Sounds like things have not progressed much in the USA since 1984 when this movie was made....Anyway, travel the world, people, and draw your own conclusions before you buy the bullsh!t that your government feeds you. Goes the same for both Russia and the U.S., as well as any other country... If you think of watching this flick, opt for Goodwill Hunting instead, even if it would be a re-run for you.

Aaron1375 Usually when I think Robin Williams I think of him going off the handle and yelling wildly and stuff such as that. However, in this film where he plays a Russian who defects to the United States during the height of the cold war he actually does so in a more calm manner than I am used to seeing him. He does a Russian very well here, and less crazy like the one he portrayed in Nine Months (though do not remember if he was Russian in that one). In this film he plays a musician in Russia who defects when he sees his friend taken by the KGB. Most of the film is him struggling to adjust to the United States way of life, which is vastly different than what he is used to and not all that it was advertised to be. It is funny at times, and it gets dramatic too. It is also a fairly long film for a comedy with a nearly two hour running time. Still, for the most part it is a funny and entertaining film and it does show a person the phenomenon known as culture shock as this person goes from a place where one has to wait in lines for everything to a place where there is no such restrictions. However, he also goes from a place where there is virtually no crime to a place that is fraught with it. So it kind of looks at things in many different ways.

littlebeartoe This movie is generally under-rated. Williams is great; he retains some of his own off-the-wall attitude within an entirely believable immigrant persona.The funny moments are funny, the emotional moments are emotional, and the philosophical moments are thought-provoking. I especially liked the theme of the Williams character struggling to gain street cred' as a blues musician.The movie is proud of America, but critical of the troubles immigrants face. It's not hyperbolic, and I appreciate that. The immigrants portrayed don't face the worst possible situations. They just struggle in a way that is probably quite familiar to real immigrants. (I'm no immigrant, but my wife is, and I've had my share of friends, employees, and colleagues who have had such struggles.)

euroman1970 MOVIE PLOT: The year is 1984, the place is Soviet Union. Vladimir Ivanoff (played by Robin Williams) is a typical Russian citizen, working in the Moscow circus playing his saxophone. He has come to terms with his situation and despair. He lives with his family in a 2 room flat. Moscow circus is preparing to go to New York for the first time to perform. A circus clown who is unhappy with his life in Russia confides in Vladimir of his intention to defect when they go to New York. After giving the performance in New York, the circus is headed to Bloomingdales department store as their last stop before departing back to Moscow. However, it is Vladimir who declares of his defection. With the help of local authorities and mall security, he is able to remain in New York. As Vladimir tries to make it in New York, he is constantly haunted by his decision. Did he make a right choice by leaving his native land, was the freedom he searched worth everything he sacrificed?CONCLUSION: Very Entertaining Film. A must have DVD for your collection. Robin William's gives one of his best performances.