Customer Reviews

Spinning Boris

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Released in the US at the time of another Russian Presidential election, "Spinning Boris", is a humorous, fact-based dramatization of the 1996 Russian Presidential election, directed by Roger Spottiswoode (who also directed the Bond film, "Tomorrow Never Dies," and the bio-pic "Noriega: God's Favorite").

The first post-Soviet election in Russia pitted Boris Yeltsin, a man once considered a hero but now, after five years of attempted coups, hyperinflation, and war in Chechnya, has lower approval ratings than Stalin, against political opponents ranging from kooky (the xenophobic Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who wants to retake Alaska), to Communist (Gennady Zyuganov, who vows to restore the Soviet Union). In Yeltsin's view (and that of some powerful forces on both sides of the Atlantic) the future of Russia is at stake: do people want to live with the challenges and opportunities of free choice, or fall back to the failed Communist system (along with newly wealthy oligarchs losing their power).

How can a candidate be "guaranteed" victory in a democracy? Hire the best political advisors money can buy, in this case George Gorton (Jeff Goldblum), Dick Dresner (Anthony LaPaglia), and Joe Shumate (Liev Schreiber, playing a more open operative than in his last Russian adventure, "The Sum of All Fears," and proving himself a master in the political movies genre).

The three American political consultants (one of whom, Gorton, recently led Arnold Schwarzenegger's successful gubernatorial campaign) are masters at showing how politics can be manipulated, or fine tuned. "Spinning Boris" shows the idealism and naivete of Russia's fledging democracy in 1996, primarily through the eyes of his daughter, Tatiana Dyachenko (played by the sensuously dignified Svetlana Efremova, known to political drama junkies through an appearance as a Russian journalist in "The West Wing").

The main difference between history and the plot of this film is that the script overplays the political naivete of Russians far too much. After all, it was Yeltsin's main opponent, the Communist Zyuganov, who said in 1995, "You should understand that a clever propaganda worker and a skilled politician will never talk in the same language with different audiences." If the Soviet era proved anything, it is that Russians are masters at telling an audience what it wants to hear. The movie does prove that Americans are good at reviving a stale product, in this case a Presidential candidate, Yeltsin, who offers a clear (and clearly superior) alternative to his opponents, men who reach back into the "ash heap of history" for their political platform.

"Spinning Boris" perpetuates some negative stereotypes about Russia. For instance: the President Hotel is not 5-Star quality; people did not walk around with machine guns in 1996; the SOVIET national anthem was not in use during the Yeltsin era; and why did the Americans sing the "Internationale," the song of world Communism, as they leave Moscow? There are, however, some wonderful street scenes throughout the entire movie, and the cinematography manages to capture some of the exoticness and beauty of Moscow, the world's most unique city (although most of the interior shots were filmed in Toronto).

It is great to have a dramatization of what is for Americans an obscure political event, but one that had far-reaching repercussions. Movies are often the only way that a historic event is remembered; by their nature a political drama will be abridged and truncated (this is true of documentaries as well). Hopefully people watching this movie won't believe that today's Russia is as close to the brink of collapse as it is depicted here. Like "Primary Colors," the movie (and novel) which gave great understanding into the 1992 Clinton campaign, "Spinning Boris" gives humorous insight into the Russian political scene during its early democratic years.

It was a dull day at my house when we had to trudge over to the neighbors' to see if they had any good movies to watch. I don't know where they found this flick; I had never heard of it and I couldn't find much about it online. I was initially put off by the title. But don't judge a book by its cover. If you ever get the opportunity to see this little gem, do yourself a favor and get right on it.

A quick synopsis: In the 1996 election in Russia, American campaign managers are secretly hired by Russians to help President Yeltzin's re-election. So its based on a true story.

The movie is very witty and smart, even dealing with serious subject matter. The whole film has an appropriately uneasy tone to it. The movie takes a little while to establish itself but after it does, it is expertly paced. For a historical movie spread out over several months, pacing is key, and Spinning Boris nails it.

The three leads, Jeff Goldblum, Anthony LaPaglia, and Liev Schreiber are amazing, they play off each other very well. The viewer really gets that sense that the characters have been buddies long before the events of the movie. I especially enjoyed Goldblum's performance, for the style and wit he brings to the otherwise tense Russian setting.

The fact that the plot is so secretive to begin with and hesitant to unravel makes the film intriguing to watch. The plot would be impossible to believe if it weren't true. But it comes off as very authentic, lending this movie an undeniable charm. I whole-heartedly recommend you see this movie.

Spinning Boris brings to the screen the story of a team of three American political consultants that travel from the United States to Moscow at the request of a Boris Yeltsin adviser who seeks the Russian president's re-election. The year is 1996 and Russian President Boris Yeltsin is trailing badly behind the Communist Party as well as other democratic parties just a few months before the general election. The trio arrives in Russia to offer its services, but things are not as they seem in the land of Pushkin and Tolstoy...
Spinning Boris brings to mind Wag the Dog and sheds light on the dirt and intrigue that is so characteristic of politics worldwide.
Jeff Goldblum, Anthony LaPaglia and Liev Schreiber, Svetlana Efremova, and the rest of the cast have carried out their performances very well.
The plot, the setting, and the dialogues, are all good!
Very well written and very well presented, the movie is without a doubt worth watching and one to seriously consider adding to your movie collection!
In conclusion, it is one of those films that gets you and keeps you thinking long after it's over. 4.5 Stars

This is the purported chronicle of the US consultants that "sold" Boris Yeltsin to the Russian public in the 1996 elections in said country. And is also a prime warning to those inclined to take their political and historical cues from slick film productions. The movie's basic premises - that these US consultants "saved" Russian democracy, that Yeltsin was the only alternative considering his opposition, etc., - are nonsense to anyone knowing the inside story of this process.

First, it was *not* the first free election in Russian history. That was in November 1917, to the Russian Constituent Assembly, which was in fact allowed by the Bolsheviks. The Assembly was shut down because it returned a non-Bolshevik majority but that is another story, and a precedent (read on.)

Second, only those candidates vetted by the Russian government - ie, Yeltsin - ever made it to the candidate stage in 1996. The broad and serious opposition to Yeltsin had already been neutralized by his anti-parliamentiary coup of October '93 and the months of personal dictatorship that followed. (This was also trumpeted as a "triumph for democratic reform," if one chooses to remember.) The two allowed opposition candidates of '96, Zhyuganov of the KPRF, and Zhirinovsky of the "Liberal Democrats", were not only permitted to run because they made Boris look good. Their parties were also on the take from the government in the State Duma. The relationship between Yeltsin and his rivals was symbiotic, not truly oppositional. So much for the groundwork of establishing the democratic playing field.

The film is correct in its depiction of fear-mongering as the final key ingredient that put Yeltsin over, and American ideological manipulation and dirty tricks did indeed help. But the real threat here came from Yeltsin's public statement that if the Communists won he would not honor the results. The threat of civil war was genuine, but it came not from Zyuganov and the KPRF (no Russians believed it could have) but rather from Yeltsin and his oligarch supporters. Russians could believe at least that much about their government. It was a "free and fair election" with a gun pointed at the electorate's head: Yeltsin's real secret of victory. With so much gun-toting in the film, it's strange that its writers never connected these dots - but maybe not, considering this film is an ideologival whitewash anyway.

This movie does communicate a good sense of Moscow of the period, still half-Soviet in feel and look before Mayor Luzhkov's "mass bombing" urban renewal. That these cynical US yuppies, so far from home, would turn down the offer of free sex so self-righteously as shown here is an unintended hoot, to anyone familiar with real American behavior in Moscow. The film does have a few good moments interspersed amid the nonsense, and the acting is more than adequate for its task. That these consultants were chosen as randomly as depicted is quite unlikely, given the strings of connections in Washington and Moscow so evident even in the film. And after '96? Yeltsin turned right around and absorbed much of the program and personnel of his "hard-line" rivals, paving the way for the Era of Putin. Again, so much for happy Hollywood endings, eh?

In short, this film rated is "EPO" - for entertainment purposes only. If you're _seriously_ interested in delving into the reality of Russia and its "reform process," try Reddaway and Glinski's "The Tragedy of Russia's Reforms."

They both won presidential elections with the help of Dick Morris and his team. If you are a political wonk, you will enjoy this movie. Great cast, great portrayal of a true story.

A trio of CIA-linked Americans saved Russia from a civil war by orchestrated Boris Eltsyn election campaign.

If something positive in this work was, it is deploying the USSR-grown talented migrants to create this film itself being as much true and clever as Tatiana Dyachenko-Eltsyn's daughter similarity not existing to Tatiana Dyachenko original.

The movie is worth buying if only for its comedic values. Great cast, dialogue and ridiculous antics that easily construct a riotously funny flick. Enjoy with friends!

Since this is based on a true story it is a must have for political junkies in your DVD collection.

The movie is funny, frightening, sharp, entertaining, with a fantastic cast. It's even better than "Wag the Dog" because it's real. A gem.

I found this film to be very funny and well acted. The plot was sharp and even a foreigner like me could follow it. It wasn't as hilarious as "Wag the dog", though! However, the fact that this one really happened gave it an extra edge.