Film Review: Russkies (1987)

In our sad times, when some seemingly enlightened countries have their public libraries purged of certain celebrated authors solely based on their ethnicity which runs afoul of the Current Thing, basic premise of Russkies, 1987 family action comedy directed by Rick Rosenthal, looks like a product of a much kinder and gentler age. That time period was Cold War, a conflict taken quite seriously by three protagonists – young boys living Danny (played by Joaquin Phoenix), Adam (played by Peter Billingsley) and Jason (played by Stefan De Salle). All three live in Key West, Florida and their favourite comic book character is Sgt. Slaughter, American military superhero who fights evil Soviets. One stormy night Mischa (played by Whip Hubley), radio operator on Soviet surveillance ship, gets accidentally washed ashore during botched spy mission and takes refuge in boys’ hideout. There they manage to overpower him and take him as their prisoner. Boys first want to turn him to authorities, but after a while, they befriend him and instead decide to allow him to sail to Cuba. While they work out their plan, they allow him to wander around the town during Independence Day where Mischa has great time enjoying hamburgers and mini-golf and even starts flirting with Adam’s older sister Diane (played by Susan Walters).

The simple concept behind this film isn’t original, not even in the context of Cold War. Two decades earlier it was used in much better known (and better regarded) comedy The Russians Are Coming, Russians Are Coming! directed by Norman Jewison. That film, just like this one, was made in time when the tensions between USA and USSR began to subside and the audience found more understanding for its pacifist message of necessity of dialogue and avoiding conflict. Unlike Jewison’s film, this one wasn’t taken that seriously by mainstream critics, mostly because it was made mostly for younger audience. Director Rick Rosenthal nevertheless does the good job in directing it and has put diverse cast to good use. Child actors are good, most notably Phoenix (who was still credited as “Leaf” instead of “Joaquin” at the time), but Whip Hubley is even better in the role that demanded of him to charm not only the audience but initially hostile protagonist. Hubley is good at conveying a little bit of innocence and image of an ordinary man who just happen to be on the other side in Cold War. Hubley also puts some effort in speaking and singing Russian which could sound convincing to the untrained ear. On the other hand, script tries to explain that anti-Soviet feelings weren’t completely product of propaganda or imagination by having character of Danny’s father (played by Benjamin Hendrickson) shown as Hungarian immigrant, still resentful over father killed by Soviets during 1956 Hungarian Uprising. Script works until the finale, when various plot stands and characters too conveniently converge in a way to ensure dangerous confrontation, very much like the one at the end of Jewison’s film. Like in that film, it is resolved by both sides choosing to do the sensible thing. Although at times corny and almost entirely predictable, Russkies is likely to make many in today’s audience not only nostalgic towards 1980s, but also wishing that geopolitical conditions might make Hollywood’s modern remake possible.

RATING: 5/10 (++)

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