A militsiya inspector named William Hurt investigates the deaths of three young people found in the woods near Gorky Park’s skating rink; their faces and fingertips have been removed. The case involves a KGB major portrayed by Rikki Fulton, Joanna Pacuła as a movie set worker, Ian Bannen as the Chief Prosecutor, Lee Marvin playing an American sable importer with a certain swagger, Brian Dennehy in the role of a New York detective, among other characters. Adapted from Martin Cruz Smith’s 1983 novel “Gorky Park,” this police procedural is notable for being set behind the Iron Curtain during a cold northeastern European winter. It presents an honest detective facing pressure within a system seemingly riddled with corruption, and it touches on the tension between Russia's socialist ideology and emerging capitalism. Apparently, that’s why the Soviet Communist Party criticized the film as anti-Communist and anti-Russian, which prevented the production crew from filming in Moscow. Consequently, Helsinki stood in for Moscow, with Kaisaniemi Park taking the place of Gorky Park, alongside scenes shot in Stockholm. The musical score by James Horner is a real strength and one of the best aspects; it blends 1980s sounds with a Russian feel to create a bleak atmosphere. Although some people don’t think the music quite works. Marvin, Hurt, and Dennehy deliver excellent performances, particularly Marvin as the confident American importer. He was 59 years old during filming and only appeared in three more movies before his death in 1987 at the age of 63. It shares some similarities with “The Russia House,” which came out seven years later starring Sean Connery, but I find this one to be more compelling and artistically developed. It carefully differentiates between those who are portrayed as honorable and those who are corrupt, and it avoids a predictable plot twist, unlike something like "Along Came a Spider." There’s considerable discussion about escaping from the restrictions of Communist rule and going to America, which seems strange considering how quickly the Iron Curtain would eventually fall. Nevertheless, the symbolism at the end is powerful. The film has a running time of 2 hours and 8 minutes. GRADE: B+

Source on TMDB