Black comedy is supposed to be dark, but it’s also supposed to be funny. Unfortunately, The Death of Stalin only manages to check one of those two boxes, and it’s not the latter. The film, directed by Armando Iannucci, is about the chaos resulting from the sudden demise of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin in 1953. I had hoped for much better from Michael Palin of Monty Python fame, the vehicle that practically invented modern humor, but I came away disappointed. Palin plays Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov, part of the dictator’s inner circle, and he only appears in a few scenes. But I still wanted to see the picture because his name on the cast list usually guarantees some laughs (think A Fish Called Wanda, which brought him a BAFTA Award).
Played by a thickly mustached Adrian McLoughlin with a silly, blue-collar British accent, the tyrant Stalin collapses in his office, and a cast of hokey, inept cabinet ministers has to decide what to do after he expires. Among them are Nikita Khrushchev (Steve Buscemi), Georgy Malenkov (Jeffrey Tambor) and Lavrentiy Beria (Simon Russell Beale). Rupert Friend plays Stalin’s son Vasily and Andrea Riseborough appears as his daughter Svetlana, but neither adds anything to the story. The only character who manages to be mildly entertaining is macho military man Marshal Georgy Zhukov (Jason Isaacs), who throws off his coat to display a ridiculous slew of medals whenever he enters a room.
I honestly didn’t laugh once during the entire movie. Maybe I simply missed the point, but if it’s that deeply buried, then I’m sure I am not alone. The film has gotten some critical acclaim, but I just can’t jump on board with this one.
SHOULD YOU SEE IT? No, I wouldn’t bother. – J.J.