When a film has a disclaimer at the front of it reminding the audience that this is a story that is fictional but it is well known that there is at least a shred of truth to it, that is the first sign that it’s about to be a wild ride. Having only been completed shooting five months before its premiere, the question can be asked if it was that tight because of the production itself or done in order to not give any that could do it harm to take action. Either way, The Wizard of the Kremlin is an interesting film to discuss.
Olivier Assayas (who did both the film and all of the TV version of Irma Vep) takes on a very controversial story about Vadim Baranov (Paul Dano), a television producer that becomes the man that helps get Vladimir Putin (Jude Law) into power with the hope that Putin will improve life for the Russian people. What he finds is what we have all come to know of the man and his methods. The story itself unfolds when Lawrence Rowland (Jeffrey Wright) comes to visit Baranov to see an artifact from a man they both admire and winds up with SO much more.
Honestly, I feel like this film would be better suited as a stage production. From what seems to be a conscious choice of many films recently to play it straight versus using any form of accents to the heavy level of dialogue, there is not much to work with visually, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. Dano plays Baranov with an icy Zen that some may find off-putting, but it is important to properly frame the environment he has spent a lifetime in and the attitude that it requires, and in that aspect he is brilliant once things settle into themselves. Wright is always great, and starts the film as the narrator but hands it off when it becomes Baranov’s story. Alicia Vikander is also here and is used well enough, and the rest of this cast (bar one) is just kinda there.
The main thing that has me on the fence here is the performance of Jude Law as the guy who has pretty much dominated Russia and its headlines for over two decades in Putin. There are moments when he disappears into the role and others where it is simply Jude Law; again, there was a decision for him to use his natural voice that I see from both sides, but a dialect coach would work wonders for this film overall.
Again, The Wizard of the Kremlin is not a film that I would necessarily see as one that needs to be seen in a theater, but if you are the type of person that likes to see history through alternate lenses and has not already read the source material, this might be worth a swim when it makes it to a streaming service that you subscribe to. Keep your expectation realistic, and you should be alright.