The Elder Son

I'm a big Shane West fan after watching 'A walk to Remember'. I think he was great in this movie as well. Wish they had of cast him in more Romantic Commedies. The movie made me interested in Russians (I think they are Ukraine). It's kind of like 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding', sort of brings you into a new culture. Well I gotta type 5 lines or I can't submit, so i think that's it!! Enjoy the movie - I did!

This really is a cute and mostly convincing little comedy. And you could almost call it a partial crime-drama as well, or tragic comedy at least but not overly tragic. Mostly it's a feel good film. It's playful, and definitely for a mature audience, but definitely very suitable for watching with other mature family members or friends. The film is very cute, fun and mostly very down home feeling. The acting is great for the most part, and so is the Russian immigrant atmosphere the film often has. It's a unique film for the most part, much different than your average Hollywood release at least. I think that's partly why I enjoyed it. The film was sort of familiar, but yet not so much, leaving you wanting to see how things turn out no matter your overall interest level in the subjects, or even in the main plot. The film is a loose reversion of the Alexander Vampilov Russian hit play from 1969. He died at only 34 years of age, but his plays have been performed from Moscow to London, and all the way to the USA. If you want a fun, warm hearted slice of life comedy. This is a good choice in my view. I'd probably rate it a 7.5 out of 10 really if I could, but since it's mostly been underrated so far in my view, I'll give it an 8. Usually I round down when it comes to films, but sometimes I feel generous. :)

Be warned, there's a much, much stronger movie based on the same play. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073743/

This is not that I'm not into remakes, but it's just bad. Everything is bad - music (balalaikas - of course, such a fresh choice, violins), acting. The depiction of Russian emigrants is so stereotypic that this even surprises - but which is way more surprising is that they are emigrants at all. The thing is that the play is about human relationships and the story can be told about an old man with ruined life of literally any nationality. He could be 100% WASP American, he could be an African American, he could be whoever, but being a very lubberly depicted Russian emigrant - well, this actually just distracts.

Which is an excellent yet sad example of how even a genial play can be ruined.

Once again, watch the movie I've gave link to. It is masterpiece congenial to the play.