Leningrad Cowboys Go America (1989) review

With their pointy pompadours and equally elongated black shoes (as well as their matching suits and unresponsive demeanors), the Leningrad Cowboys (from Siberia) are told to take their gypsy-infused rock & roll to the United States (and Mexico) where they change up their sound to accommodate their audiences (and appease their tyrannical manager).  What's interesting is that it was made near the end of the Cold War (the Berlin Wall fell the same year this was released) and here we have some Russians trying to "assimilate" with the West (clearly a jab at them from the Finnish director) and while some of the gags and sketches kind of thud, it's still an amusing (if lackadaisical) road movie with some neat interpretations of American songs.  Kaurismäki's movies generally leave me cold, but I appreciate him demystifying the typically glamorous "concert film": sometimes when you have no money, you just have to eat an onion.