The Wizard of the Kremlin tells the story of Vadim Baranov played by Paul Dano as he talks to Jeffrey Wright’s Roland about his rise in Russian politics as he helps Putin go from head of the FSB to President. This is apparently based on a book and crucially sees Putin played by Jude Law which wasn't on my bingo card for 2026.
The story is told mainly in flashbacks and shows Baranov go from trying to form some theatre director to a powerful ally of Putin. How much of this is true and how much of it is fiction isn't really the point because it's not told in a particularly interesting way. Unfortunately the film is directed by Olivier Assayas who directed Wasp Network which came out in 2020 and frankly that film had some good stuff but it wasn't told in a particularly interesting way.
What does work are the performances. Paul Dano is always dependable and does a great job of maintaining what level of interest I had once I realised that only 40 minutes had passed when it felt like 90 minutes. Jude Law does a relatively good impression of Putin although it was his mannerisms that seem quite good. It was like Anthony Hopkins in Nixon. He looked nothing like Nixon but the way he carried himself came across like the former U.S. President. I also thought that Jeffrey Wright was very good as Rowland. There isn't a huge amount for him to do but he manages to at least make the most of it which is exactly what Alicia Vikander does with Koenia. It’s not a great role but Vikander brings some humanity to the role.
Honestly this has to be one of the dullest films of the year. I think that at 2 and a half hours it is severely outstaying its welcome and if it lost an hour then it might have been much better to sit through. It’s only because of Paul Dano and Jude Law that kept me watching. The film thinks that it is Nixon but doesn't have any of the whit or ability to pull it off.
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