Review: 'The Death Of Stalin'

The only reason I wanted to see this was because of who was part of the writing team, as it is the same lot that wrote the TV series The Thick Of It and the brilliant satirical comedy In The Loop. All of their work seems to be farcical comedy and making fun of politics, dark subject matters or both. When it works, it is comedy gold.

I get mixed feeling with comedies like this. I remember watching Dr. Strangelove, which is universally seen to be the best of this sub-genre. While I appreciated the craft and laughed at some of the gags, I never thought of it as a masterpiece. So despite my excitement for this new feature, I should prepare for a possible disappointment.

Well I certainly laughed a lot. However, it was the story that will prevent me from giving this an exceptional rating. It starts off with a pretty funny sketch that sets us up nicely for what we are about to get ourselves into. Then the laughs just keep on coming in a way that you would always expect from director Armando Iannucci and his talented writing team. The 1 hr 46 mins duration absolutely flew by. I couldn't believe it was over so quickly and I think it was helped by the flow of the gags.

Despite laughing all the way through, there was something that just wasn't making me think that this was brilliant. I'm not sure if it was because the story itself wasn't gripping me enough, the slight feeling of alienation with British actors speaking in broad accents, despite playing Russian characters, or something else.

If the story is the problem, then I guess the film worked well for me as a gag reel more than anything else.

What I also really liked was the performances. If I had to give one stand out mention, it would have to be Simon Russell Beale. Despite being known for his work on British TV dramas, Beale looked at home in his role and executed everything he did really well, whether it was intended to be serious or comedic.

Jeffrey Tambor did a great job and reminded us how good he is in films, as well as TV. It was nice to Steve Buscemi back in an integral role and he got a good amount of laughs out of me. Seeing people like Paul Whitehouse and Michael Palin was a nice surprise. Whitehouse was certainly channeling his style from The Fast Show and while Palin was hardly given any gags to work with, it was still great to see the legend back on the big screen.

Jason Isaacs was a wonderful change of pacing and pretty much stole the second of the film, Rupert Friend and Paddy Considine were real treats, despite not being in for many scenes. I've always liked Considine. He gives a great performance in his minor role. He has such a warming presence that it was quite sweet to watch.

While I liked the inclusion of Andrea Riseborough, I don't think she seemed ,to fit in with the tone in my opinion. I have to mention one final surprise was the appearance of the always gorgeous Olga Kurylenko. A very minor role, but it was one she did well with.

I hope I have explained myself as to why I am a mixed bag when it comes to films like this. I think I will always like the gags, but whether the story works well with it is the deciding factor for me calling it a brilliant film.

There is a lot to like about this, the gags are great and consistent in its quality and the performances are strong. They just did not seem to mesh well with the story. Either that, or I just was not interested in it at all.

I think the comedy aspect will work for a lot of demographics, including a general mainstream audience member. If you like TV series like Veep, The Thick Of It and films like Dr. Strangelove, then you will get a real kick out of this.

Rating: 7/10