Spinning Boris (2003)

Russian political elite hires American consultants to help with President Yeltsin's re-election campaign when his approval rating is down to single digits.

Director:

Roger Spottiswoode

Writers:

Yuri Zeltser, Grace Cary Bickley (as Cary Bickley)

Stars:

Jeff Goldblum, Anthony LaPaglia, Liev Schreiber

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jeff Goldblum	...	George Gorton
Anthony LaPaglia	...	Dick Dresner
Liev Schreiber	...	Joe Shumate
Boris Lee Krutonog	...	Felix Braynin (as Boris Krutonog)
Svetlana Efremova	...	Tatiana Dyachenko
Shauna MacDonald	...	Lisa
Gregory Hlady	...	Andrei Lugov
Vladimir Radian	...	Vasso
Ilia Volok	...	Elvis Impersonator
Konstantin Kazakov	...	Oleg Soskovets
Judah Katz	...	Michael Kramer
Maria Syrgiannis	...	Female Journalist
Ola Sturik	...	Post Office Clerk
Gillian Vanderburgh	...	Dick Dresner's Wife
Serge Timokhin	...	Hotel Desk Clerk

Storyline

Early in 1996, three Republican campaign operatives take a job in secret assisting Boris Yeltsin's reelection. Once in Moscow, they find he's polling at 6 percent with the election a few months away. While Dick Dresner wants to go home, George Gorton and Joe Shumate vote to stay. First, they must get someone's attention; they succeed finally with Yeltsin's daughter. Then it's polling, focus groups, messages and spin. Even as Yeltsin's numbers go up, the trio are unsure who hired them and whether Yeltsin's allies have a different plan in mind than election victory. When the going gets toughest, it's Gorton who puts a spin on our stake: democracy and capitalism must win.

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Plot Keywords:

year 1996 | election | president | kleptocracy | businessman | 

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Taglines:

Electing a Russian president the American way.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 October 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Yeltsin Project

Filming Locations:

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

Licht/Mueller Film Corporation, Showtime Networks

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The hotel portrayed in the movie where Gorton, Dresner and Shumate stayed and Tatiana ran the campaign was the "President Hotel." This hotel was known as the "Oktiabraskaya" during Soviet Times, and was where the Soviet Politburo stayed when in Moscow. In addition to a Kremlin view and crystal chandeliers, each room was equipped with gas masks, and the hotel compound was said to be secretly linked to the Moscow metro system for occupants to escape or reinforcements to arrive.

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Goofs

In one of the first scenes, the white cathedral with the golden domes (Cathedral of Christ the Saviour) is depicted in the background. However, this cathedral was destroyed 1931 and rebuilt in 2000. By 1996, the new dome was not yet completed.

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Quotes

Joe Shumate: He never did say how we'll be gone. By land, by sea, or by bullet.

User Reviews

not based on the true events

When you read the comment on this film, that it's smart and funny political comedy based on true events - the only true word here is that it's a comedy. If you're told it's insider movie about Russian politics - it's not. There's probably only 2% in the movie from what really happened in Russia during that election-campaign. In reality of the 1996 it was thousand times more interesting to follow the situation and that was a real funky election-campaign. Well, there were PR-advisers from the US working in the Yeltsin's staff, but their role was just minimal. The whole campaign was totally different from what is shown in the movie, it would be much funnier showing all the president's people riding across the country with paper boxes full of cash, and the celebrities giving the shows to support Yeltsin all over the place - at least that would be true. I give it three only because of the respect to Jeff Goldblum, Antony LaPagglia, and Liev Schreiber. And about the machine guns on the streets of Moscow. I was living in the place that had the highest amount of hard crime in Russia in the middle of 90-s and never seen a man with the gun on the street.