Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

This has been called a "black comedy," but for all the cynicism that may or may not be read into it, it comes off with an enormous amount of charm. I love the premise -- a man goes around stealing cars so that he can sell them and give the profits to orphanages. A previous reviewer compares it in this regard to Lermontov's "Hero of Our Time," but the concept puts me in mind theatrically much more of another classic nineteenth- century Russian novel -- Dostoevsky's "The Idiot." Like Prince Myshkin, Detochkin is a completely honest man (and Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy plays him wonderfully, with an in-the-moment innocence that makes it possible to buy the whole thing). And, following completely honest principles, he ends up a car-their on the run from the police. The possibly-somewhat-bitter subtext being that to exist as a truly honest man is incompatible with modern lawful society -- a conclusion only bolstered when we learn at the end from Detochkin's shaved head -- even though it is accompanied by happy music in celebration of his reunion with Luba -- that he has done time for his right- though-illegal actions. The court scene is adorned by a speech from the villain Dima, pointing out how Detochkin's unacceptably kindly actions were against the rights to property and money guaranteed by the Soviet constitution, and there lies satire for those who choose to see it. The narration rarely breaks in, and when it does it seems to perform the rather postmodern function of explicitly contextualizing the film with relation to audience expectations of detective movies, so that it will be clear how those expectations will be deliberately turned on their heads. It's my second Eldar Ryazanov film and I look forward to more; this was delight, and one that I felt could be enjoyed on a few different levels.

"Beregis avtomobilya" in Russian means "look out for the car". It seems that the title actually implies that cars become sort of a metaphor for our lives. The protagonist Detochkin (his surname implies "child" in Russian) is an insurance agent who steals cars from thieves and gives the money to charity. But then there's a surprise.What I mean about the title as a metaphor for our lives. Some people put all their money into their cars; they're complete losers, but at least they have cool cars. Moreover, it's often said that a person is his/her own worst enemy. In this sense, the danger to Detochkin posed by the average vehicle is nothing compared to what his own actions can do.Anyway, this is a pretty funny movie, a look at the Soviet Union in the mid-'60s. We even get to hear an American song in one scene! I suspect that they had fun making the movie. Worth seeing.

Just a great movie portraying the genres most often used in movies at that time: love, light humour. Smoktynovsky is perhaps not the ideal choice for the role (Ryzanov originally wanted Nikylin for this role, but the latter was currently in the also great comedy - Diamond Arm), yet he is very good. There are many funny quotes in this film, better understood if you understand Russian, a ton of small funny moments which just make you grin. The cast gives an outstanding performance. Back to Smoktynovsky again, I'll describe the movie for you a bit. He is an honest insurance agent who steals and sells cars from unfairly rich people, and gives the money to foster homes. His best friend is a detective trying to find the thief. After he learns the shocking truth, he obviously does not want Detochkin (Smoktynocsky's hero) to be punished severely.

By current standards it is really ridiculous to call it a "black comedy". "Death Becomes Her" and "Pulp Fiction" are black comedies. And among the Russian ones "Deja vu" is a good candidate. So, here goes problem number one. Being rather light-hearted it lacks colour badly (suppose they could make it in colour back in 1966). And sometimes it lacks style (the background voice making wise comments in a "TV news" manner is a downer). This is very subjective fault-finding but quite decisive to me. There are no complaints regarding the actors' performance and the story is fine with its "Robin Hood" touch. There are many memorable scenes ("Hamlet" performance, the Soviet shopping, a funny monologue about "our" Shakespeare, etc.) and tons of enjoyable sayings. Most these things are, unfortunately (or fortunately), can be easily understood by older Russian people (especially of older generations) only. As to people from other countries (and even younger Russian audience) – there will be some problems in catching its tune. Just to expand on this matter: for Russians, the movie is one good piece of entertainment, nostalgia, and a historical lesson (clothes, relations between people during the Soviet era, first businessmen a la "spekulianti", Soviet "drama clubs", etc.). For the rest of the world... - hardly. If you live in some sort of USA, was born there, have been living there your whole life, have just watched this movie and ready to give it a 10 right away with a frank heart, post me a few lines please.It is a good movie but not great. Upon the DVD box it is written: "popular videos". It really belongs to that class of movies - "Russian popular videos" that is.If it were in colour and without that bumbling voice behind the camera, the mark from my side would have been better.Quite objectively, it is 6 out of 10 (but there should be a place for this film in the national top 1000 of course). Thanks for attention.