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Red Penguins

2019

Gabe Polsky

Documentary, Self: Howard Baldwin, Viktor Tikhonov, Steven Warshaw

6.0

58

Documentary Red Penguins tells a story of capitalism and opportunism run amok - complete with gangsters, strippers and live bears serving beer on a hockey rink in Moscow. Shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Pittsburgh Penguins and the famed Red Army hockey team formed a joint-venture that showed anything was possible in the new Russia. Eccentric marketing whiz, Steve Warshaw, is sent to Russia and tasked to transform team into the ... [+]

	Media	Author	Review
		Dennis Harvey Variety	"A cautionary tale with particular resonance in the context of our current bizarre intertwining with Russia (...) has the kind of stranger-than-fiction appeal that could lure both hockey fans and the puckless."
		Ben Kenigsberg The New York Times	"If 'Red Penguins' doesn’t always strike a satisfying balance between the glib and the grim, the broader topic (...) affords it a novel lens on Russia’s economic transition."
		Matt Fagerholm rogerebert.com	"It invites us to laugh at the bone-headed decisions made by greedy individuals—that is, until the bodies start piling up and the story’s underlying themes prove to be chillingly resonant (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"
		Richard Roeper Chicago Sun-Times	"[An] insanely entertaining, WTF-worthy, endlessly fascinating documentary (...) Polsky masterfully weaves in archival footage with present-day interviews with Warshaw (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"
		David Alm Forbes	"It’s a fascinating and fun film. And in a most unexpected way, quaint"
		David Ehrlich IndieWire	"Slight but insightful (...) [It] is deft and rewarding enough"
		Justin Lowe The Hollywood Reporter	"An engaging, in-depth examination of the intersection of politics and hockey (...) Editor Christina Stiles enticingly integrates [its] elements to achieve a fluid sense of pacing"

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