The fancy footwork and star appeal of
Gregory Hines as Raymond, an exiled American, and the powerful grace of
Mikhail Baryshnikov as Nikolai, a defector, combine with a great production design to carry this otherwise thinly-stretched tale of intrigue. With a stellar supporting cast (
Isabella Rossellini as Raymond's wife,
Helen Mirren as Nikolai's lover, and
Jerzy Skolimowski, the Polish director, as a wily KGB agent), the film has a few excellent moments. Nikolai has defected from the former USSR some time in the past. While on a trip, his plane spectacularly crashes on a runway in Siberia. Trapped in the country he had escaped, he is brought to stay with Raymond, an American who defected during the Vietnam war. Nikolai desperately wants to get out of the country, but the Russians have other plans. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide