It's ace to be able to sit for 100 minutes and watch massively talented actors have so much fun with such impressive writing.
I was hoping it would be a little more funny. There weren't a lot of laughs. Acting was fine. I was bored for most of it and it lost my attention for most of the movie.
The movie is definitely not for everyone. If the type of humor used in the movie doesn't work with you, you'll probably find the whole experience pretty weird. That's not my case, though.
The story is beautifully told and, even though I already knew how it was going to end, it managed to captivate me for the whole duration.
The cast was really well picked, with great synergy between them. The actors were able to portray the ruthlessness of their characters while making them look like fools, creating a really funny juxtaposition. The resemblance with the real people, while not perfect, was really well done, almost like a slight caricature.
Overall, a very enjoyable movie. Its 100 minutes go by very smoothly and if you don't know much( or anything) about the period around the death of Stalin it is a good way to learn about it and the players in this Soviet game of thrones.
8/10
What great, quirky and funny film. Outstanding cast with special mention to Steve Buscemi (who was absolutely brilliant in Boardwalk Empire) and Michael Pallin (who is just brilliant).
Didn’t actually make me laugh… it was watchable but nothing more.
5/10
I LOVED this movie. Every one of the actors played their parts well and the writing is very good. Plenty of laughs throughout - almost a black comedy in many ways. 10/10
One of the most unfunny and pathetic films I've seen in a long time, absolutely thumbs down as far as I'm concerned...
The multi-talented Armando Iannucci takes his unique and caustic eye and focusses it on the Soviet Union of the 1950s. This was a time of mass suppression and death and shameful time in the history of Russia and humanity. So do you think was going to make it a balls-out comedy? No. With Iannucci it was going to be funny, that much is obvious but it was also not going to shy away from the awful absurdities of the Communist state of the Soviet Union. It is a very dark and awful topic highlighted by the spotlight of comedy.
A difficult thing to accomplish as the actors and story definitely walk a fine, fine, line but overall, with a couple of minor exceptions, The Death of Stalin does it. Most of the targets are hit firmly square and centre and those that don’t aren’t far off.
Considering the deaths that Stalin and his cabal of heartless psychopaths were responsible for both, directly and indirectly, this could easily have been tasteless and offensive. That it isn’t is to the eternal credit to everyone involved in the film’s production.
Furthermore, with an absolutely stellar cast being ably assisted by the fantastic period detail and costumes the film sets up the atmosphere of the repressive and murderous era perfectly. The actors speak in their own accents, which is great not a meerkat voice to be heard and it has to be remembered that Russian is huge so the real Russian accents of the real people portrayed would probably have been as varied. It is well-known the Stalin would probably have sounded like ‘Farmer Giles’ to Russians.
If you are a fan of Armando Iannucci then you will spot his deft hand in the directing of the film with the scheming amoral political machinations mixed in with utter idiotic incompetence – you know, like real life. But throughout the running time at no time do you think Iannucci and his cast thinks that this is some huge joke we’re viewing. The audience is reminded in no uncertain terms that whilst these fools made rash decisions on a whim people were being whisked away, murdered and disposed of all the time, all on a whim. We are being made to feel uncomfortable as we view and it works.
The great skill is for a truly comic film The Death of Stalin can is very harrowing. As it should be.
As with every film the cast makes or breaks it and without doubt, the entire cast is outstanding. Lead by the usually gentle and avuncular Simon Russell Beale as the truly odious and without doubt evil, if anyone can be said to be evil, Lavrenti Beria, we get a masterclass by many safe hands. Steve Buscemi is superb as Nikita Khrushchev all nervous energy and Machiavellian twists and the official ‘nicest man in showbusiness TM’ Michael Palin shows he should get more acting parts alongside his fantastic TV travelogues. Jason Issacs storms in both literally and acting-wise and nearly steals the film as true Soviet war-hero Field Marshal Zhukov who apparently was a very easy man to get on with in real life.
The female characters in The Death of Stalin are served a little short but due to the nature of the time it is set in perhaps this not a surprise but nevertheless Andrea Riseborough makes the most of her role as Stalin’s daughter and Olga Kurylenko is convincing as the fearless Stalin-hating Maria Veniaminovna Yudina, likewise Rupert Friend makes the most of his smaller and more comedic role as the drunken Vasily, Stalin’s son, but he does get the best laugh-out line in the film though.
Iannucci has made another great political statement in a comedic manner whilst opening our eyes to the soulless and barbaric practices of authoritarian government and it does make one wonder why would anyone allow that or be attracted to that style of government. Then we go on Twitter.
The idiocy of a fools parliament is laid open with humour but it does not flinch away from the razor cuts inflicted. Watch The Death of Stalin and laugh and be grateful he’s dead. This is a good and awful film.
Nearly all of the jokes had me laughing out loud (instead of just having me sharply exhale through my nose), and the writing for the dialogue, characters, and story was really well done.
It's a good comedy, a solid satire, and just a darn good movie as a whole.
The Thick Of It: the Russian Edition! Great script, wonderful dialogue, and talented playing by the accomplished cast. Funny, to be sure, but some of the comedy is offset by the ugliness of the real life events and characters that form the basis of the film.
Decent black comedy that requires some historical knowledge and flexibility from viewer.
Just watchable ,it felt somewhat indecisive because it seemed to be sitting on the fence. It would have been better if it leaned either more towards a serious tone or embraced a more comic approach. The jokes didn't land as well ; they weren't funny at all.
On paper, it should have been a great comedy but there's more laugh in a 30 minutes episode of Veep than in this whole movie. Also, there were some weird tonal shifts, like people getting shot in the head.
Once i got over the stalinist leaders all bickering in oxford english, i had a real good time with this. Although at this particular point in time, a black comedy about bigshots who cannot afford to say what they think while trying to navigate the dysfunction of a totalitarian government that just lost its leader… I can’t help but draw some parallels to the dysfunction of a certain wannabe-totalitarian white house in its final days.
There's a lot of things bothering me about this film: it feels in part like a messed-up play, in part like a hastily made documentary; it's all over the place story-wise and the main idea doesn't really stay interesting all the way to the end. That being said, it does feature an amazing cast in very fitting roles - I have to give particular nods to Steve Buscemi, comedy legend Michael Palin and Jason Isaacs.
The comedy in this movie comes form the way how it essentially criticizes the Soviet Union by exaggerating things. It never goes too far though; there is a sense of realism present all the time. Some moments become very hilarious though, and all of the actors have great comedic timing. The story is paper thin but still manages to complicate things and, unfortunately, the steam runs out halfway through. After that you just sit there, waiting for it all to end.
It's a dark satire, and it has some really hilarious moments. It's just not as relentlessly funny and incredible as most reviews are trying to convince you it is.
Wasn't as funny as I expected? Felt really long despite being 100 minutes. There was a log funny moments but it also felt like there was a lot of filler and downtime inbetween.
Dry, funny and informative. What else can you ask for when watching a historical film? The Death of Stalin makes history as well as tells it.
It should be funny, but for some reason it isn't. It's just weird. On the other hand acting was quite good.
The Death Of Stalin
This satire/dark comedy is not for everyone, however I am that someone for whom this is for.
The star studded cast plays their parts fantastically.
The plot is bonkers, but at the same time believable for political state of the time.
10/10
#NicksMiniReview
https://t.co/nHOAGm8qhZ
This is supposed to be coming out today, but I can't find any showtimes for it. What's going on?
An interesting, but somewhat worrying docudrama look at the United Kingdom if Comrade Corbyn ever came to power.
Shout by CinemanicBonkersBlockedParent2018-05-13T23:48:36Z
I really enjoyed the sense of humour in this film and all the cast did a great job.