Review of Moscow on the Hudson

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.