Comedy? Satire? What a joke! (no laughs, no chuckles)

Rating: 2/10 (28 March 2018)

"The Death of Stalin" (2017 release from the UK; 107 min.) brings the story of the power struggle to succeed Stalin. As the movie opens, we are reminded it is "Moscow, 1953". Stalin is listening to a live broadcast of a classical orchestra performance, and decides to order a recording of it. When it turns out no recording was made, the Radio Moscow manager corrals the audience and orchestra to redo the entire concert. Meanwhile, Stalin has issued more death lists and sends out his men to round up and kill the people named in the list. Then, shortly after Stalin gets the orchestra recording delivered to his office, he suffers a cerebral hemorrhage, and the Central Committee members begin scrambling to become the next Soviet leader. At this point we're 15 min. into the movie but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.
Couple of comments: this movie is co-written and directed by none other than Armando Iannucci, the creator of HBO's "Veep". So I immediately thought or expected to be charmed in the best possible way. Alas, it was not to be. As the movie opened, I kept waiting for some funny stuff, or at least something, ANYTHING, to give me a reason to smile or chuckle. I didn't get any, I am sad to say. I have no idea what was going on, other than the scheming and backstabbing among the potential successors of Stalin. Much has been made about the (alleged) historical inaccuracies in the movie. I am not a historian, and so I couldn't care less whether Iannucci took an artistic license with some of the facts. If you look at the movie's poster, you'll notice that the tag line is "A Comedy of Terrors". I wish that were true! The reality is that this movie completely misfires, either as a comedy or as a satire, period.
"The Death of Stalin" premiered at last Fall's Toronto International Film Festival. Imagine my surprise when this opened last week in both of the art-house theaters here in Cincinnati, and on multiple screens in each of them. I haven't the faintest idea why they are thinking that there is a pent-up demand for this movie. The Tuesday evening screening where I saw this at was attended so-so (less than 10 people), I couldn't help but notice that I wasn't the only one waiting for an opportunity to laugh or chuckle. I didn't hear any. Bottom line, I cannot recommend this film in good conscience to anyone, but of course I encourage you to check it out, be it in the theater, on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.