Verdict
Summary
A charming, if delightfully outdated comedy that was shot in 1987, but barely released in 1989, The Experts has always held a special place in my heart. I remember the first time I saw it on VHS (which, up till now has been the only format this movie has been released on), and I enjoyed it a great deal, and while the movie hasn’t especially aged well, it still has a weird sense of humor that sometimes works a spell on you if you’re in the right mood for it.
Plot:
Two trendy American idiots are brought to Russia to reinvent and bring American culture to an experimental American-styled town, but without them knowing where they really are.
Review:
For 30 years, Russia has maintained a small town modeled after 1950’s-era Nebraska, with the intention of creating a whole town full of Russian spies who can perfectly infiltrate Middle America, but there’s a huge flaw in the plan: The town stayed trapped in the ’50s and the people and the culture there never progressed into the ’60s, ’70s, or ’80s. The Russian in charge, a guy named Mr. Smith (Charles Martin Smith) is the only one who realizes this, and he proposes a radical idea to his superiors: He will hire two Americans who are “with it” and know modern American culture and mannerisms and bring them – unbeknownst to them – to Russia, under the auspices that they’ll be managing a nightclub somewhere in a small town in Nebraska. Mr. Smith finds two trendy loser pals – Travis (John Travolta) and Wendell (Arye Gross) – whom he lures with a great deal of money to take on his proposition. He drugs them and when they wake up, they’re in “Nebraska” in Russia, and to them it’s like The Twilight Zone where the ’50s never stopped: Everyone behaves in a weird, lost-in-time way, and it’s their job to bring modern-day America to them by introducing New Wave music, trendy fashions, and modern electronics to these hopeless cases. They both find girlfriends too: Travis gets the incredibly sexy Bonnie (Kelly Preston), and Wendell gets the booksmart Jill (Deborah Foreman), but when Travis and Wendell accidentally discover the deception – that they’re in Russia! – all hell breaks loose when the Kremlin decides to shut everything down immediately, which means death or the gulag for everyone. It’s up to these ridiculous morons to save the town from communism and make a great escape quick!
A charming, if delightfully outdated comedy that was shot in 1987, but barely released in 1989, The Experts has always held a special place in my heart. I remember the first time I saw it on VHS (which, up till now has been the only format this movie has been released on), and I enjoyed it a great deal, and while the movie hasn’t especially aged well, it still has a weird sense of humor that sometimes works a spell on you if you’re in the right mood for it. It’s a Cold War comedy with a wacky concept, and while Travolta and Gross make a fun pair, the comedy in the movie sometimes swings wide and misses. The chemistry between Travolta and Preston is incredible, and their first dance on screen is close to being a classic moment in cinema history (at least for me). Director Dave Thomas was the right person to help this project, as his penchant for aiming the camera and letting it run as funny stuff happens is pretty on target.
Kino Lorber has finally brought The Experts to high definition with a brand new HD master from a 4K scan of the camera negative, and the movie looks better than it has ever looked before. It’s time to discover this one if you’ve never seen it. There are some trailers on the disc, and a new interview with the director.
