From Russia with Lev (2024)

Not rated, mainly because  this is more of an MSNBC special look than it is a traditional film.  There is talk about drug use and strip clubs in the movie. Really, there's some debaucherous behavior all through the film.  But in terms of showing stuff, it's pretty mild. Honestly, I'm exhausted and don't remember if there's swearing or not.  

DIRECTOR: Billy Corben

Okay, I was really trying to talk myself out of saying that this was a movie.  I mean, it's that fine line.  It's an MSNBC special report by Rachel Maddow in most ways.  But it is 90 minutes long and is made by MSNBC Films.  There's no bumper on either side and it was just presented as-is.  By my own rules of having to write about every movie that I watch, I guess I have to put From Russia with Lev on that list.  The worst part is that I'm exhausted and have a million of these to do.  Just...so much fun on my part.

As tired as I am right now, I'm always itching to gripe about Donald Trump.  If there is no other record in the future about how I tried stopping a dictator from reestablishing power, you have my unread blog about From Russia with Lev.  This was my wife's choice.  The blog kept on coming across her X feed and I said I would give it a whirl.  While ultimately effective for what it is trying to be, From Russia with Lev is ultimately useless to me in terms of trying to convince that Donald Trump is a monster to anyone who needs to hear it.  I mean, it's not like the information about Donald Trump isn't out there.  It's just that we're not going to change minds because Trumpians are in a cult.  They get news from people who already agree with them colored with so much spin that Trump can do no wrong.  The worse he gets, the more they like him.  We're in a country with bad people and that's something that I have to make peace with every day.  But if I was to argue that point, I also have to make the argument that MSNBC is not the best source for news.

I know! I know!  Apples and oranges!  MSNBC didn't inspire January 6th.  But I have to be completely honest.  There was this study that I found fascinating.  The title was completely clickbaity, so I have to explain.  The title was something along the lines of "Fox News Viewers Know Less about Current Events than Those Who Watch No News".  I was like, "Yeah!  Got 'em!"  Now, while Fox News viewers tend to be the most uninformed about current events, in second place were MSNBC viewers.  Then came "No news" people.  So to drop From Russia with Lev as definitive proof on people isn't exactly the selling point I want.  Do I believe the things that I see in From Russia with Lev?  Yeah.  I do.  I think that this doc contextualizes a lot of the Russia interference stuff that we've been hearing about for the past eight years.  I now have a face to put with events.  I have a timeline of things that happened.  I have the guy who did all of these things outright confessing to doing these things.  But can I take it as absolute truth?  Probably not.

In terms of how documentaries work, From Russia with Lev might have too many pieces.  Told mostly from anecdotal evidence by Lev Parnas --Trump's Ukraine guy who did most of this evil stuff --the movie speeds through a lot of information very quickly.  In my head, Rachel Maddow and Billy Corben probably had 14 hours of tape of Lev Parnas talking.  They cut it down into 90 minutes and still had such a glut of information that it comes across as chaotic.  It's not only Lev Parnas talking.  His wife and some investigators and lawyers chime in corroborating Lev Parnas's story from alternate perspectives.  But the lion's share of the movie is Parnas's testimony itself.  A lot of it is chaos.  Parnas isn't a terrible narrator.  He's just doing a lot of shortcuts.  He also, as remorseful as the whole thing is, colors the whole thing under the umbrella of "I thought I was doing the right thing."  That's one thing that is both good and bad about the movie.  Parnas admits that he was in the MAGA cult. This rich grifter basically fell upwards until he got into Trump's inner circle.   From there, he feels special because he has the President of the United States asking him for advice.  It all seems very seductive.  The thing is, I want a smoking gun.  Unfortunately, that smoking gun, according to Lev Parnas, is Rudy Guiliani.

For those not nearly as obsessed with the monsters in the GOP as I am, Guiliani used to be a decent dude (kind of / sort of!), especially during 9/11.  He was known as America's Mayor for the way he was the face of New York after the terrorist attacks.  But when that faded, he turned into a little troll under Donald Trump.  Trump put him first in the grand scheme of things.  Guiliani became an alcoholic and was willing to do anything to further the MAGA cause.  Now, Parnas throws most of the shade at Trump, but almost through the filter of Rudy Guiliani.  Now, the most convincing bit of information that shows that Trump and his cronies lie is that Guiliani is the godfather to one of Parnas's children.  Trump distances Guiliani from Parnas once Parnas goes down for crimes committed in the president's name.  He becomes this fall guy.  Now, one of the arguments that the right make is that Parnas is just doing this doc to bring everyone down with him, which might not make the most convincing argument ever.  But the real sell that Parnas does through this doc is showing clearly the lie that Trump uses to show that he doesn't know Parnas. That Guiliani godparent thing, plus SO many photos with him and a video of Parnas inspiring policy with a Trump who acts like a king sooner than a president is the damning stuff.

Now, what I wanted out of this doc is something a little bit more explicit about Hunter Biden's laptop. One of the things that the movie does really well is show that Hunter Biden was made to be a talking point despite having very little proven criminality behind him.  It shows how they got a guy in Ukraine who hated Joe Biden for losing him his job to invent propaganda against Hunter Biden to stymie the Biden campaign.  That stuff is great.  But I wanted the laptop thing off the table.  I'm so sick of hearing about Hunter Biden's laptop.  It's Hillary's emails all over again.  But the documentary keeps the laptop elements kind of vague and it is incredibly annoying.  Because the movie does something really nice with the end of the movie.  Since Hunter Biden was convicted of a crime, he's been such a decent human being about accepting responsibility for anything that befell him.  He is the antithesis of how Trump handles responsibility that it actually gives me hope for how politics are handled.  The end of the movie has Lev Parnas apologizing to Hunter Biden for unleashing this nonsense on this man.

But the biggest frustration I have with even writing about this is that From Russia with Lev is almost becoming that video that is passed around Q-Anon, only for progressives. When I see links put in social media to this thing, it feels very Sound of Freedomy.  That MSNBC banner is such a damning thing because it can't absolutely be trusted.  I'm just thinking if my in-laws sent me a documentary made by Fox News Films, I would instantly dismiss everything in it.  It makes me feel like I'm in a cult for the Harris / Walz campaign (BECAUSE I DO ABSOLUTELY LOVE THEM!).  Honestly, the biggest takeaway from From Russia with Lev is the idea that I can now talk mildly eloquently about Lev Parnas if he ever comes up, but that's only if someone comes to me first.  I almost want to do some more reading on the documentary from someone a bit more neutral than from seeing the confirmation bias that I intentionally watch.  Yeah, it's probably true.  But also, I'm not going to change anyone's mind with a documentary like this.  It's great for me, but it's another preaching-to-the-choir doc.