Product Review

Robin Williams will make you laugh and cry as a freedom-loving Soviet defector in this brilliant, thought-provoking romantic comedy. Circus saxophonist Vladimir Ivanoff (Williams) suddenly defects from his touring troupe in that temple of Western decadence - Bloomingdale's. Fleeing the K.G.B., Vladimir wins asylum and moves into the crowded Harlem flat of black security guard Lionel Witherspoon (Cleavant Derricks). Soon he has found both a voluptuous Italian lover Lucia Lombardo (Maria ConchitaAlonso), and a shrewd Cuban lawyer Orlando Ramirez (Alejandro Rey). Though Vladimir learns that life in America can be cold and even painful, he grows to love this strange and wondrous new land. Director Paul Mazursky has truly transformed Vladimir's declaration of independence into a very memorable film.