THE WIZARD OF THE KREMLIN -- Paul Dano Isn't the Problem!

Review by Steve Barton II

Film culture is a beautiful thing when it breeds respectful debate around art and how it’s interpreted. While it has several positive aspects, the opposite always rears its ugly head and being a contrarian has become “cool”. One of the most influential voices in film is Quentin Tarantino and for many film obsessed people, Tarantino is their god and everything he says or does is gospel. In a recent interview, Quentin stated that he thought actors like Matthew Lillard and Paul Dano are weak compared to talent like Daniel Day Lewis and Austin Butler. Many people across the film world came to Dano’s defense, citing several projects like Little Miss Sunshine and Prisoners, but The Wizard of the Kremlin could not have been released at a more inconvenient time. The Wizard of the Kremlin follows Vadim Baranov (Dano) a Russian filmmaker who unexpectedly becomes an advisor for Vladimir Putin (Jude Law) and aids in Putin’s rise to power in post-Soviet Russia.

The Wizard of the Kremlin may not be the biopic that’s remembered from 2026, it has some redeeming qualities that shouldn’t be overlooked. Although it would be easy to pile on Paul Dano right now, his performance is actually decent. Along with himself and Jude Law, they both act well and nail the dialogue, but they bounce in and out of accents (some that don’t even remotely sound Russian) and they never do a single scene speaking Russian. These issues are more on director Olivier Assayas than the actors themselves. He either asked the actors for these performances or didn’t care enough to see the glaring issues. The only spoken words in Russia were in the b-roll footage that was awkwardly cut in. The segments of real footage mixed into a narrative film can work for some films, but it felt unnecessary and strange in The Wizard of the Kremlin. It also bloats an already dragging runtime and ruins the pace too.

The overall look of The Wizard of the Kremlin was fairly gray and bland, but that also seems to be the accurate representation of post-Soviet Russian and their vibe. The camera mostly stays sedimentary with nothing visually appealing or memorable, but it gets the job done. The other editing in the film is hit or miss with the scene headings sectioning out the different parts of Baranov’s life and what led him to Putin’s doorstep. The structure of the film is also odd, but it works only because Jeffrey Wright guides us through. Like many biopics before it, The Wizard of the Kremlin is told through the main character reflecting on his past and telling the audience (and Jeffrey for plot purposes) how his life panned out in this way. It’s not the strongest portrayal of its kind, but you can’t deny the magic that’s struck when two heavy hitters like Wright and Dano meet in the matte box.

In the end, The Wizard of the Kremlin has some interesting moments, but the overall story drags too much and feels like it should’ve been a documentary. Even great performances from Wright, Vikander, Law and Dano couldn’t distract from the slow pace that makes the 2+ hours feel like an eternity. The movie has moments where it tries to crack jokes like the Daft Punk reference and it feels like you’re watching an SNL sketch, rather than a serious biographical drama. While only history buffs can truly speak to the accuracy of the impressions or set designs in The Wizard of the Kremlin, casual fans of films will be entertained, but they might need a nap during one of the scene breaks.

The Wizard of the Kremlin is out in limited theaters starting May 15th! 

Rating: 2.5/5