Review: After the sad passing of Robin Williams, I thought that I would catch up in his older movies. I really enjoyed this film which shows a different side to his versatile acting style. This is a more serious side to his character, about a Russian who defects to New York after a trip to the big apple with the circus. There are a lot of political sides to the storyline which have a lot of similarities to everyday life in this day and age. Robin Williams put in a great performance, along with the other characters who make the movie realistic and quite funny in some parts. It's also a heart warming story which proves that determination and a little bit of guts can make you achieve your dreams. Enjoyable!Round-Up: After following Robin Williams career over the pass years, this is definitely a movie which shows that the man can really act. His Russian accent was brilliant and I liked the way that the black family took him in, regardless of his political views and his colour. The movie does look quite dated because it came out in 1984, but the storyline is timeless and I'm sure that everyone can relate to the many different situations which Williams character comes across. Anyway, it's definitely worth a watch, just to see Williams in a different light.Budget: $13million Worldwide Gross: $25millionI recommend this movie to people who are into there comedic dramas about a Russian defecting to America after travelling with the circus and visiting Bloomingdales. 5/10

Robin Williams became famous, I think, for his stand-up comedy, like his idol Jonathan Winters, but do you realize how many movies this guy has made over the years? He's really become quite a film star and is especially good playing against-type as a criminal or simply as a wacko (see "One Hour Photo?")Anway, this was an early Robin Williams film in which he plays a Russian musician defecting to the United States. He ("Vladamir Ivanoff") first hides out in a big store in New York City before being taken in as an immigrant by a black guy (can you say PC?) Williams does an outstanding job speaking Russian, by the way, as opposed to most English-speaking actors.There really isn't much of a plot here, just slices of life, if you will, some of it with the usual Liberal promiscuous (i.e. "I'm a liberated woman and if I stay the night, don't misinterpret that I want to get involved with you," the Italian tells the Russian. I can think of a few more accurate descriptions that the word "liberated.")All in all, despite the premise and talents of Williams, this was only so-so. It kind of runs out of steam halfway through and it's hard to maintain interest in the final 40 percent of it. Actually, I like Williams better when he plays more serious roles like this although I'm not sure if he himself was ready to play it straight this early in his career. He's just too tempted in this film to produce comedy. He's a talented and very strange guy; this film reflects that.

Manhattan looks so much more varied and gritty and real and less mall-ified than it does today in this, Paul Mazursky's 1984 love letter to the American way, and one of the last unambiguously patriotic mainstream American movies. (It's very much a product of its Reagan time, right down to the casual homophobia.) Robin Williams, for once not twinkling too hard or overworking his virtuosity or adorableness, is an Everyman Russian who unexpectedly defects in Bloomingdale's and goes on to live the immigrant experience, suffering urban indignities and romantic angst along the way. His worklife is a little easier, his economic situation a little less treacherous, and the people he meets a little nicer than they would be in real life. For all that, in its celebration of the melting pot and its warm embrace of the American urban landscape, the movie moved me to tears.

Robin Williams is a Russian musician who defects in Bloomingdale's in "Moscow on the Hudson," a film directed and co-written by Paul Mazursky. This is a warm, funny yet melancholy film about the experiences of immigrants trying to adjust to American life, focusing mainly on Robin Williams as Vladimir. Williams is excellent in depicting the wonder, the loneliness, the sadness, and the paranoia he experiences in his new country. He meets many other immigrants who have been in the U.S. for a longer time, including Maria Conchita Alonso, who plays an Italian salesgirl with ambitions of becoming a newscaster, and his immigration attorney, Alejandro Rey, in a marvelous performance. Once the honeymoon is over, Vladimir has to come to terms with never seeing his family again, the frustration of not yet being able to find work as a musician, the mean streets - and Russia starts to look good to him.This is a wonderful movie that depicts what newcomers to our country go through as they adjust to life here and gives one a new respect for our ancestors and for those immigrants we meet today.