MOVIE REVIEW : Looking at ‘Russkies’ Without Seeing Red

“Russkies” (citywide), glowing with glasnost, is a movie whose release coincides neatly with the current era of good feelings between the United States and the Soviet Union. It’s “The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!” for youngsters.

On the Fourth of July in Key West, three all-American boys--Danny (Leaf Phoenix), Adam (Peter Billingsley) and Jason (Stefan DeSalle) come across a shipwrecked Soviet sailor named Mischa (Whip Hubley). These boys are pretty thoroughly, even disturbingly, Rambo-ized. Danny and Jason have fathers in the military, and they all worship a superpatriotic comic-book hero, Sgt. Slammer.

You have the distinct feeling that were the boys much older, Mischa would be in real trouble. But they’re just kids, awed by what’s happened to them, jolted to discover that Mischa does not conform to their conception of what a Russian is like and confused about what to do what next. Mischa is a warm, sweet-tempered young man who is an innocent, even if the circumstances of his arrival are not.

Writers Alan Jay Glueckman, Sheldon Lettich and Michael Nankin and director Rick Rosenthal keep us guessing--and caring. “Russkies” is consistently inventive. Something is always happening as the boys begin to work out a plan for Mischa’s eventual fate. “Russkies” becomes an adventure with much humor, but also something more as the boys come to know Mischa, and he comes to know them and becomes acquainted with America. The film makers lay on their brotherhood theme lightly and their success lies in their knowing when to be--and not to be--too serious. They also know exactly how much heart-tugging they can get away with.

In so many movies, youngsters seem to exist in a vacuum, with adults left out of the picture or dragged in for purposes of buffoonery. But these boys have families. Most important among them is Danny’s father, Sgt. Kovac (Benjamin Hendrickson), who at age 11 witnessed the death of his father during the 1956 Hungarian uprising and who understandably hates Russians as a result. What’s interesting is Hendrickson’s persuasive playing of what might be a contrived character. (In a brief appearance, singer Carole King plays Kovac’s estranged wife.)

“Russkies” was handsomely designed (by Linda Pearl) and is altogether a shrewd, painstaking production. The wiry, blond Hubley actually went to the Soviet Union to prepare for his role and his Mischa has a winning personality (and what sounds like an authentic Russian accent). DeSalle hasn’t as much to do as the other boys, but he has an amusing, affectionate relationship with his tough Marine captain father (Al White). Billingsley provides the crucial common sense for the trio, but making the strongest impression in “Russkies” (rated PG) is Leaf Phoenix, who shares with his older brother River an ability to depict a youngster reacting to a whole series of events that challenge his values and beliefs.