Russia in the early 1990s is a fascinating and mysterious place. The entire country essentially was transformed overnight with the fall of the Soviet Union, followed by several years of trying to figure out what kind of a nation they’d become. We now know the direction Russia ultimately took, of course, but the behind the scenes machinations are ready made for cinematic treatment. So, a film like The Wizard of the Kremlin, while decidedly a throwback sort of work, very much scratches that itch. The movie has elements that hit and elements that miss, but a couple of strong performances ultimately rule the day.

The Wizard of the Kremlin arguably could have been made into a compelling miniseries, but going about it as a film does keep things from sprawling out too widely. Now, the pacing is lax and the running time is a bit bloated, but the core of what makes this flick interesting is consistently in evidence. It’s a work that now seems like a throwback, though the issues it’s tackling are very much still on our minds today.

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After we set up the framing device of a writer (Jeffrey Wright) speaking to our protagonist, we officially meet Vadim Baranov (Paul Dano), a former avant-garde theater director and reality television producer that will grow to be a shadowy figure in government. In the early 90s, Russia had Boris Yeltsin in charge, so ineffective and drunk that he’s literally propped up for speeches. When oligarch Boris Berezovsky (Will Keen) assembles the Unity party, a group of the wealthy elite hoping to find a figurehead to replace Yeltsin. Berezovsky recruits Baranov to help, and they settle on Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (Jude Law), the director of the Federal Security Service. He seems happy as a spy and skeptical of politics, but with only a time bit of convincing, he’s set to become Prime Minister.

Soon, Prime Minister becomes President when Yeltsin resigns. With Putin now elevated to power, the changes come hot and heavy. In short order, any hope of Russia becoming like the west goes away, reduced to a fearful gangster state. As Barnov becomes the right hand man of Putin, he’s conflicted about what he’s seeing, all the more so when he rekindles a relationship with Ksenia (Alicia Vikander), a woman from his younger days who gives him a potential way out.

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Paul Dano and Jude Law are both quite good, with the former getting a rare leading role, while the latter gives layers to what could have been a caricature. Dano also takes his fictionalized character and adds the complexity that never makes him feel out of place. It would be easy to have Baranov seem like a writer’s creation, though Dano allows him to fit in. You see the moments where he has doubts about you believe Dano, too. Law doesn’t show up until almost halfway through, and once he’s on screen, he’s effectively unsettling. He doesn’t play him as a monster, even as he does awful things, but he plays him so convinced of his own authority that it’s deeply creepy. Alicia Vikander is solid, though a bit wasted, while Jeffrey Wright has almost nothing to do. In addition to Will Keen, supporting players include Tom Sturridge, amongst others.

Filmmaker Olivier Assayas directs while co-writing with Emmanuel Carrère, and it’s an effort that should get him more consistent English language work if he wants it. While not on the level of a Clouds of Sils Maria or a Personal Shopper, his European sensibilities pair well with this look at Russian dealings. Now, Assayas does let things run long, as this goes far past the two hour mark, while some elements of the story are more interesting than others. Assayas and Carrère never figure out what to do with Wright’s character, either, so he feels superfluous. However, as a fly on the wall, watching as Dano’s character puppeteers it all, it’s never less than compelling.

The Wizard of the Kremlin would have been an Oscar hopeful two decades ago, when this type of flick was awards bait. Now, it stands as a bit of an odd duck, though even with that, it’s a compelling film with some strong acting contained within. Could it have been better? Sure. Could it have been a lot worse? Absolutely.

SCORE: ★★★

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The concept behind Given Names (Prénoms) is so simple that it’s hard to believe no one has ever done it before. Filmmaker Nurith Aviv showed up at the apartment of various friends of her with a bunch of flowers, and then listened to the friend talk about their first, or given, name. That’s it! It’s the kind of discussion that happens often in real life – just listen to any group of new mothers justify their choices, or any teenager sulk about what this label for their identity means to them – but it’s not often such a chat is captured on film.

It doesn’t work flawlessly, of course: at the Berlinale Ms. Aviv made it clear the movie was originally designed as a kind of art installation, and more reviews than were included were filmed. The opening of the film is also more of a tribute to the late French filmmaker Agnès Varda, who Ms. Aviv had worked with. (Mr. Varda’s original given name was actually Arlette, changed by her when she was a teenager.) But once we are into the direct interviews this hiccup is immediately forgotten as we get a window on some really interesting cultures and how their given names have shaped these very interesting lives.

You learn so much about someone while knowing so little of them, just from the simple story of their name. One of the interviewees was born in secrecy during the Holocaust, left on the doorstep of a Polish family by his Jewish parents where he spent the first years of his life under the name of a dead child of the Polish family. Once he was reclaimed by his parents they did not really change his name, but moving to France and beginning a new life in a new language changed it for him. Other interviewees had parents from different cultures and gave their child a name that with different connotations in each culture. It’s fascinating to hear these considerations be discussed but also how the owner of this name felt about it. One woman has a stutter, so mentions how pleased she is to have a name she can pronounce. She also has a very ordinary name from her birth culture (the Turkish name Zeynep), because her mother had a embarrassing first name that her own parents made up, and was therefore adamant her own children would not have the same problem. Some people have had different names through different stages of their lives, while others have had names for different purposes. Some have had the same name the whole way through and never liked it, others like their name so much they write poems about it. There’s a whole spectrum of humanity and history on display here through just one simple question.

The interviews were clearly rehearsed but they were not a dialogue. Instead Ms. Aviv filmed them talking directly to the camera, sharing these intimate details about this gift they were given and how that’s affected them like we’re chatting over a coffee. All the interviews were conducted in Paris and in the French language, but even amongst that there’s a global reach among the people here that is both very ordinary and highly unusual. Some people have received prejudicial treatment based on their names while others have had no problem at all. In France names are taken seriously for an additional reason: the spelling of names is legally standardised. Some people are pleased by the simplicity, while other people (or their parents) rebel. A cultural side effect is that it’s therefore not unusual for the name on your birth certificate to be used only in government contexts, while your true name is used everywhere else.

American audiences find such interference laughable, of course, but in other ways American discourse around baby names has shaped the way people around the world think about their choices. Just think how ordinary names like Luna or Lea, Liam or Luca are in preschools around the world right now. These short, easy-to-spell names travel across different cultures in ways which names like that of this movie’s editors, Nurith and Hippolyte, might not. Given Names is a fascination exploration of a cultural issue we more normally take for granted, and I am not just saying that because one of the interviewees is also named Sarah. Our given names are who we are but also who our parents thought we might be, and that’s not necessarily who we become. Hearing people discuss their feelings about this is entrancing indeed.

Given Names (Prénoms) recently played at the Berlin International Film Festival.

Learn more about the film at the IMDB site for the title.

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NBCUniversal has ordered a TV adaptation of the popular New York Times puzzle Wordle that will be hosted by Savannah Guthrie.

Jimmy Fallon, whose company is co-producing the show, and Guthrie announced the series pick-up Monday on NBC’s “Today.” “Wordle” will begin production later this year and debut on NBC in 2027.

Guthrie filmed the pilot episode for Wordle last fall in Manchester, England, where the series will be made as well. The project from Universal Television Alternative Studio, Fallon’s Electric Hot Dog and The New York Times, has been in development for two and a half years.

Guthrie said she learned the show was picked up in February and was set to shoot episodes in March. But producers delayed the start as Guthrie went on a hiatus for two months after the disappearance of her mother Nancy.

“They just stopped everything and said, ‘we will wait for you, of course,’” Guthrie said. “And Hollywood is a really tough business as you know, and I didn’t expect that.”

Guthrie returned to “Today” on April 6. Law enforcement officials believe Nancy Guthrie was taken against her will from her Catalina Foothills home on Jan. 31. The investigation into her abduction is ongoing.

Guthrie did not mention the situation with her mother’s abduction, but indicated her game show duties will be another step toward normalcy. “I’m just determined to put one foot in front of the other,” she told colleagues.

Wordle asks players to guess a five-letter word in six chances through a process of eliminating letters. An individual player’s performance in the game can be posted online without revealing the answer, as the colored tiles are shown without the letters.

Offered as part of a subscription to a bundle of puzzles on the New York Times web site and app, Wordle has been a major driver of digital revenue for the company. The New York Times said earlier this year that users solved the Wordle puzzle 4.4 billion times in 2025.

Wordle was created by Brooklyn, N.Y.-based software engineer Josh Wardle in 2021. After it became an immediate hit online, the New York Times purchased it for a price reported to be in the low-seven-figure range.