I doubt I would have watched this movie if my boyfriend hadn't chosen it, but that's not to say it was bad. It was rather entertaining, putting a comical twist on a not-so-comical part of history, and making these men who held so much authority look like nothing more than fools.
The movie is based loosely on history, and if you want to know what is and isn't accurate, this article covers that well. I'm quite glad pianist Maria Yudina was a real person, and that the opening scene of the movie wasn't too far from the truth.
I'd recommend this movie mainly to men, especially those who are politically inclined, and wouldn't mind it being shown in high school history class as well. I don't remember much from that class, finding it boring and focused more on memorizing dates than learning from history, as we should. And without being too controversial, there's an alarming amount of people in western countries coming out of public school as communists, and this movie would be a good deterrent for that.
Overall I'd give it a 7/10, but bonus points for encouraging me to look up the actual history surrounding Stalin and the Soviet Union when the movie ended. I love a movie that inspires education!
Feel free to discuss with me below!