Customer Reviews

Leningrad Cowboys Go America [VHS]

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Great movie! Reviews are going to be real polarized, either you love it or you hate it, there's no middle ground. The dead pan humor just builds with each scene and it just gets funnier. I've seen it 10 times now and each time it just gets better and better.

The first time I watched this movie, I swore these guys must be the Finnish equivalent of The Blues Brothers - a made-for-TV band that was popular enough to justify a movie. Turns out they're a real band, and pretty decent. I appreciate comedy that underplays and still manages to be funny, and I especially like the way the scenes end when the joke has been made - no endless milking. The use of non-actors in many scenes give a very nice, gritty, realistic look, especially in the bar scenes. If you're a blues fan (and I am,) keep an eye out for Duke Robillard in a cameo as a bar owner. The actor who plays the village idiot, considering he never speaks a word, is terrific. His scenes with a barber and in a shoe shop (as he tries to get the Leningrad Cowboy look) are downright poignant. For me, this film is a rare gem.

A hilariously funny movie. Very dry, but with warmth. And funny hairdos. And pointy shoes. Their rendition of "Born to Be Wild" is worth the price of admission by itself.

I can tell from some of the other reviews that one really needs a better understanding of Finnish culture to appreciate this movie. Though Finns are a little more cosmopolitan now then they used to be thanks to successes like those of NOKIA etc., this movie is right on target in terms of how a lot of Finns might have been about 10 ears ago. Also it looks at how the US was and might have been interpreted by your average Finn at that time. I love Finland, and this movie.

It's probably not for everyone though.

This is perhaps the funniest movie I have ever had the pleasure to watch (the closest rival being, IMHO, *Raising Arizona.*) Back in the very early 1990s, when the Leningrad Cowboys Go America film came thru Houston, TX there were maybe six people in the audience. All were on the floor, laughing helplessly, and not knowing for sure exactly why. I know because I was there. This director's timing is impeccable, the actors are hilariously deadpan and everyone who has been over to watch it has loved it. As most everyone in Europe knows by now, the Cowboys are a real rock and roll band (from Helsinki)--they used to be called The Sleepy Sleepers. One inside joke in the film has the Cowboys playing a hit from their earlier Sleepy Sleepers album---and their bar room audience just stares at them silently. The British actor Nicky Tesco appears as a cousin with a thick Louisiana accent---one of the toughest on the planet to get right. He nails it. Moreover, he sings lead on some of the songs. If you ever travel to Helsinki, stop by a record store and pick up a Leningrad Cowboys soundtrack. It will include a haunting Tesco-penned song, "Through the Wire"---one of the best songs writtin about being in a working rock band.

Not long after the film was released in the states, I happened to be in the only Uruguayan restaurant in Amsterdam. Two tall guys walked in, sat down at a table, and began reading the menu. Neither spoke a word. They were obviously Finns. Taking a chance, I asked them if they had ever seen the Leningrad Cowboys. They smiled and one of them said, "Yeah. We know the dead guy." He was referring to the actor/musician who plays the frozen corpse through most of the film. When my wife expressed surprise that these two guys would know someone in the film, the other guy shrugged: "Finland is a small country."

This movie was hilarious, it's so ridiculous and well written. It reminds me a bit of The Blues Brothers. There isn't much dialogue throughout the movie, but the actions and visuals more then make up for it. One of the things that needs to be understood before watching the movie is that The Leningrad Cowboys are an actual band, they're not made up like The Blues Brothers, which makes it a little funnier. I highly recommend this movie to people who are fans of weird music and foreign films. It's a fun movie to watch and is only 80 minutes, so give it a try!

I only have to say this: It's a beautiful movie with great music also, among tunes being one called NO MAN'S LAND which is the most beautiful I heard in the last 30 years. But you get this song only on cd as a whole thing, in the movie being heard here or there only.

Whatever you can find - dvd, vhs or laser disc, buy it, you won't regret.

It may not be the best movie from Aki Kaurismäki, but certainly a good one to start with. I liked the character of the village idiot who realy believes in the american way of live + being a rock'n'roll band-groupie.. it's also a nice parody for the emigrants coming to US 100years ago, just like they came now to conquer the country.

After having discovered this band by accident last summer, I became hooked and had to find this movie. While their best stuff is not on this movie (find their CD's Live from Prowinzz or L.C. with the Red Army Chorus), the movie is a definite must and a fabulous look at the truth behind the American pop scene. While not amazing actors, the characters are the real thing, and their wry sense of dark humour makes this a fabulous movie that if anything sorely needs to be rereleased. Be prepared to see a band unlike you've ever seen before, brought to you by one of Finland's premeire directors.

For fans of very, very dry humor, this is 100 proof Finnish - doubly the dryness found in dry British fare - and guaranteed to induce conniptions. The director had the brilliant idea of having band members *underact* and the results are impressive. The band manager is the best ever; the club managers are the real McCoy. The musical selections could have been better: the Cowboys have much better stuff on tap. One mile ahead of Spinal Tap, two ahead of Fear of a Black Hat.