Parker had told me a couple of stories about this movie (doesn't your 17-year-old provide recommendations on movies about postwar Soviet apparatchicks?), so last weekend we decided to sit down and watch it. OMG it was hilarious. That may sound like an odd thing to say, but all you need to know that the director's best-known work in the United States is Veep. So when he takes on the power struggle of Soviet party leaders after Stalin's unexpected death, it's going to be from an unexpected perspective.
Good story, good script, magnificent actors – what's not to like? It was particularly fun to watch Steve Buscemi (who plays Nikita Khruschev because of course) just get handed the keys to the movie. Typically it seems like he gets a line every so often and then just watches the other actors react and carry the movie. Here, perhaps because we know he's the one to watch, we are always looking to see what he does, and he never disappoints. I mean, Vyacheslav Molotov is played by Michael Palin, and you don't even notice.
I highly recommend.