RUSSKIES. Directed by Rick Rosenthal; written by Alan Jay Glueckman, Sheldon Lettich and Micheal Nankin; produced by Mark Levinson and Scott Rosenfelt for New Century. Starring Whip Hubley, Leaf Phoenix and Peter Billingsley. Rated PG (some very mild vulgar language).
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How could a librarian (which is what I am between movies) not love Russkies? It begins with three boys reading the worst kind of violent, propagandistic war comic books. And it ends with those same boys reading War and Peace. Talk about upward mobility!
Aside from serving as encouragement to read the classics, Russkies does have a few other things to offer. Likeable main characters, for instance, and mostly non-violent excitement that has "family entertainment" written all over it.
Its story, however, is simple (maybe even simple-minded) and is totally predictable, at least for experienced moviegoers over the age of 8 or so. Revealing the ending, as I did above, will spoil no surprises for the audience.
Another problem is its corniness, which many viewers will find excessive. It's possible for a movie to be emotionally effective, even sentimental, without resorting to the kinds of syrupy scenes we often find here. But Russkies can't seem to manage it.
Danny, (Phoenix), Adam (Billingsley) and Jason (Stefan DeSalle) are boys growing up in an almost ideal environment—the Florida keys. There's a military installation nearby for macho inspiration and lots of beaches and easily navigable waterways for exploring. They do have their problems, of course, some trivial (such as having to do chores and coping with unappreciative siblings) and some substantial (such as parents newly divorced).
Then they discover Mischa (Hubley), innocent survivor of a botched spy mission that ran afoul of a storm. Although their first impulse is to turn him in, the more they get to know him, the more reluctant they are to do this.
The boy actors are all good, with Billingsley being the cutest, Phoenix the deepest, and DeSalle having the most amusing parent. Hubley is very appealing as Mischa, the perfect goodwill ambassador. He's good-looking, polite, sensitive and reassuringly non-political.
Various assorted other characters both enhance and complicate the action—a bully corporal who likes to torture sealife and who learns Mischa's secret, Adam's pretty sister, who attracts Mischa's eye in spite of his troubles, Danny's father, who, a little too conveniently, is a Hungarian emigre whose own father was killed in the 1956 uprising against the Soviets.
But the show belongs to the boys and their Russian friend and is at its best showing their interactions and growing affection for each other.
November 18, 1987