Mixed feelings about this one. Rented it in hopes of some good Baryshnikov dancing encased in an interesting plot. I got through only 30 minutes of it and packed it back to Netflix for the following day's mail. I relented the next day and decided I should at least check for any dance sequences. So I did, and fast-forwarded through most of the rest of the film, watching only enough to get me the general plot or good parts.
The film stars Mikhail Baryshnikov, with Gregory Hines, Isabella Rossellini, and Helen Mirren. Yes, some big names there, but not put to the best use. The script is leaden and dull, the directing soporific. Hines looks lost as an actor, in his admittedly incongruous part of a black American tap-dancer who has defected to Russia because of racism in the U.S. The movie is about a famous Russian-American dancer (Baryshnikov) who crash-lands in the USSR and is apprehended as a former defector and forced to stay and hopefully dance. Hines and his new Soviet wife (Rossellini) are forced to babysit him and, along with the danseur's Russian ex-flame Mirren, convince him to dance at the upcoming opening night at the Kirov.
Most of it was skip-worthy, but there's a great, passionate dance Baryshnikov does to a rousing banned Russian song. There's also a dancing duo between Baryshnikov and Hines which is quite lovely. Apart from a modern-dance snippet at the film's outset, and an 11-pirouette turn by Baryshnikov on a bet, that's all of his dancing. They really should have capitalized on his presence and given us a real showstopper to top off the film, but I guess that didn't fit the plot, such as it was.
I wasn't really into Hines' numbers that much. There were a few dramatic scenes I stayed tuned for, and the shots of Leningrad are really great, but plot- and acting-wise this ended up being a tiny bit of a "Yes, Giorgio" (the Pavarotti flop), but not nearly that unwatchable. I did enjoy Baryshnikov whenever he was on screen, whether it was acting or dancing. The man is just magnetic, and very cinematic.
As I got more into it, I decided to watch the "Making of" special feature snippets, which were actually better than the plot of the movie itself. Did you know that they couldn't film in Russia with Baryshnikov, because as a defector he was a criminal and feared re-capture and punishment? (They still got plenty of Leningrad exteriors, though.) And that Gregory Hines called him "Mike" for the duration, and Baryshnikov didn't object? (His usual sobriquet is "Misha.") And that Helen Mirren met her husband, director Taylor Hackford, on this set? And that half of Helen Mirren's family is Russian, and her birth name is Helen Mironoff?
I'd give it a 6/10. Definitely worth it for Baryshnikov fans, but prepare to use fast forward if you tend to lose patience.
The film stars Mikhail Baryshnikov, with Gregory Hines, Isabella Rossellini, and Helen Mirren. Yes, some big names there, but not put to the best use. The script is leaden and dull, the directing soporific. Hines looks lost as an actor, in his admittedly incongruous part of a black American tap-dancer who has defected to Russia because of racism in the U.S. The movie is about a famous Russian-American dancer (Baryshnikov) who crash-lands in the USSR and is apprehended as a former defector and forced to stay and hopefully dance. Hines and his new Soviet wife (Rossellini) are forced to babysit him and, along with the danseur's Russian ex-flame Mirren, convince him to dance at the upcoming opening night at the Kirov.
Most of it was skip-worthy, but there's a great, passionate dance Baryshnikov does to a rousing banned Russian song. There's also a dancing duo between Baryshnikov and Hines which is quite lovely. Apart from a modern-dance snippet at the film's outset, and an 11-pirouette turn by Baryshnikov on a bet, that's all of his dancing. They really should have capitalized on his presence and given us a real showstopper to top off the film, but I guess that didn't fit the plot, such as it was.
I wasn't really into Hines' numbers that much. There were a few dramatic scenes I stayed tuned for, and the shots of Leningrad are really great, but plot- and acting-wise this ended up being a tiny bit of a "Yes, Giorgio" (the Pavarotti flop), but not nearly that unwatchable. I did enjoy Baryshnikov whenever he was on screen, whether it was acting or dancing. The man is just magnetic, and very cinematic.
As I got more into it, I decided to watch the "Making of" special feature snippets, which were actually better than the plot of the movie itself. Did you know that they couldn't film in Russia with Baryshnikov, because as a defector he was a criminal and feared re-capture and punishment? (They still got plenty of Leningrad exteriors, though.) And that Gregory Hines called him "Mike" for the duration, and Baryshnikov didn't object? (His usual sobriquet is "Misha.") And that Helen Mirren met her husband, director Taylor Hackford, on this set? And that half of Helen Mirren's family is Russian, and her birth name is Helen Mironoff?
I'd give it a 6/10. Definitely worth it for Baryshnikov fans, but prepare to use fast forward if you tend to lose patience.