SPINNING BORIS Rating: (out of 5 stars) Director: Roger Spottiswoode Producer: Cydney Bernard Writers: Cary Bickley and Yuri Zeltzer Director of Photography: John Bartley ASC, CSC Cast: Jeff Goldblum, Liev Schrieber, Anthony LaPaglia Visit the IMDB page for full cast and crew

Comment on the message boards.

Review by: Dan Tester
3/8/04

Spinning Boris tells the incredible true story of three American political consultants who were summoned to Russia in the mid-90s to aid Boris Yeltsin's re-election campaign in the first ever Soviet Democratic election. However, the film itself is so slow-paced and muddled that neither the import of what is truly happening (the in-the-balance showdown of Democracy and Communism), nor the irony of Capitalists guiding the way, ever really cuts through. This could have been a wildly funny satire along the lines of Wag the Dog, or a tremendously suspenseful drama along the lines of All the President's Men, but instead it falls somewhere in the middle, with big laughs and general intrigue saturated. I enjoy political movies, so I was able to stick with it, but the casual viewer will probably flip over to the Soprano's long before Boris' election day.

The trio of consultants are played by Jeff Goldblum (as goofy as ever, God is this guy goofy, this guy can't sip a cup of coffee without some goofy mannerism), Liev Schreiber and Anthony LaPaglia. I am not sure of the attributes of the real men, but in this movie, their character traits all seem conventionally constructed to move the plot along -- Goldblum as the goofy and annoyingly optimistic leader, LaPaglia as the cynical and wise-cracking pessimist, and Schreiber as the number crunching "glue." Either way, I doubt that the real participants were this dumb in real life. Certainly not this naïve. They are elite, brilliant political consultants, able to spin bullshit into gold, year after year, election after election, and yet don't appear to consider or even perceive of the potentially life-threatening ramifications of entering Soviet politics. And it is already mid-way through the film by the time these three geniuses are startled to discover that their hotel rooms are bugged. Wow!! Who woulda thunk it? You would expect more from the Russians I guess. Schreiber's character at this point lectures that wire-tapping is standard operation in Russia, so they should consider it "a badge of honor," although he seemed as surprised as the others upon the initial discovery. Maybe he is just that good on his feet.

Spinning Boris follows the trio from America to Russia, where they begin to consult with Boris Yeltsin's daughter (Boris would never risk personally meeting with Americans) on the campaign. Early in the film there are some interesting dichotomies to the two political approaches. Yeltsin is in single digits in the poles, in dead last place (even trailing a mentally unbalanced former Soviet general who wanders the streets in his pajamas screaming about reclaiming Alaska from the dirty Americans) and things look bleak. The Americans push the standard "morality lacking" negative campaign strategies, but the Russians are the ones with scruples here. They do not want to say things that are not true, and they don't want their candidate to "fake" congeniality. The Americans are frustrated, the Russians impatient, and there are scenes with real tension as passports are confiscated and late night strolls through town are deemed "unadvisable." The problem is, not much "ever" happens in this movie, and it is not until Yeltsin has a medical setback a few weeks before the election and his daughter finally accepts the American approach that things pick up... a little; but this is well into the film's final third. And with an ending that is not a surprise (like the ship sinking in Titanic, Yeltsin's fate was knowledge I had entering the film), there is not much to rely on for closure. It just kind of…ends.

Roger Spottiswoode's direction is lackluster to say the least, and the writing seems to aspire to nothing more than status quo. This may have simply been a tale more appropriately left to the pages of Time Magazine. Not "everything" needs to be a movie. And Mr. Goldblum, not "every" character needs to be goofy, you daffy bastard.

But as always, it is only one man's opinion.

(Premieres Sunday, March 14th on SHOWTIME at 8pm ET/PT.)