I remember seeing this when I was in high school with my father. We laughed a couple of times and may have cheered for the Ivan character at his liberating choice to defect, but the overall movie was pretty shallow and didn't explore it's liberally slanted memes.
The purpose of this movie is predicated on a joke that gets repeated over and over again. The joke is - let's have Robin Williams imitate a Russian immigrant and have him walk around a wild city like New York and see what happens. Yes, I admit that premise would be more interesting than if he took a trip to rural Texas or Wyoming. New York, with all of its outlandish and colorful sights may provoke much wonder in a wide eyed soul who is inexperienced to such stimuli. So the movie supplants itself in this premise and exploits it to unrealistic and sometimes silly parodies. I thought Moscow on the Hudson worked better as a parody, but when it tried to overreach as a meaningful commentary on American life and morals, it lost its momentum and fell flat.
Also, a movie increases its appeal and intrigue when it inserts a beautiful and sexy love interest. Maria Conchita Alonso fulfills that promise. I thought their meet cute was okay and I was willing to go along for the ride in Ivan's American experience, but she is sort of treated as an object of desire who is romantic, but also capable of stereotypical tantrums and resistance. There is also an unflattering scene with Williams and Alonso in a bathtub where he is rubbing his hands over her breasts and expressing his prurient desires. Unfortunately, he ends up looking like a lecherous pervert. Both of them look tawdry in that scene and it also ruined his likability for his character who is supposed to come off as a sweet soul. The friendship between Ivan and his Black American friend looks forced as well. Mazursky inaccurately portrays the Black American family as being a family of goodwill and munificence.
I know there are some political undertones to Moscow on the Hudson and they are really inoffensive inasmuch as they allow us to make up our own mind. There are a few funny moments that I will not mention. This is not a great movie by any means. I would never consider it a cornerstone masterpiece of Cultural studies. It is simply a comedy that makes a feeble attempt to be serious.
The purpose of this movie is predicated on a joke that gets repeated over and over again. The joke is - let's have Robin Williams imitate a Russian immigrant and have him walk around a wild city like New York and see what happens. Yes, I admit that premise would be more interesting than if he took a trip to rural Texas or Wyoming. New York, with all of its outlandish and colorful sights may provoke much wonder in a wide eyed soul who is inexperienced to such stimuli. So the movie supplants itself in this premise and exploits it to unrealistic and sometimes silly parodies. I thought Moscow on the Hudson worked better as a parody, but when it tried to overreach as a meaningful commentary on American life and morals, it lost its momentum and fell flat.
Also, a movie increases its appeal and intrigue when it inserts a beautiful and sexy love interest. Maria Conchita Alonso fulfills that promise. I thought their meet cute was okay and I was willing to go along for the ride in Ivan's American experience, but she is sort of treated as an object of desire who is romantic, but also capable of stereotypical tantrums and resistance. There is also an unflattering scene with Williams and Alonso in a bathtub where he is rubbing his hands over her breasts and expressing his prurient desires. Unfortunately, he ends up looking like a lecherous pervert. Both of them look tawdry in that scene and it also ruined his likability for his character who is supposed to come off as a sweet soul. The friendship between Ivan and his Black American friend looks forced as well. Mazursky inaccurately portrays the Black American family as being a family of goodwill and munificence.
I know there are some political undertones to Moscow on the Hudson and they are really inoffensive inasmuch as they allow us to make up our own mind. There are a few funny moments that I will not mention. This is not a great movie by any means. I would never consider it a cornerstone masterpiece of Cultural studies. It is simply a comedy that makes a feeble attempt to be serious.