TO RUSSIA, WITH U.S. POLITICAL SPIN.

Byline: David Kronke TV Critic

'SPINNING BORIS'' is a fish-out-of-water comedy, a wry political satire and even a bit of a suspense thriller.

It concerns the 1996 Russian presidential election, where Boris Yeltsin managed to keep the country's democracy alive despite trailing early and badly in all polls to Gennadi Zyuganov, who threatened to return the country to its Communist past, and even to the late dictator Joseph Stalin.

What turned Yeltsin's - and Russia's - fortunes around? Well, if ``Spinning Boris'' is to be believed, it was the work of three American campaign advisers. The three are George Gorton (Jeff Goldblum), who more recently handled Arnold Schwarzenegger's triumphant gubernatorial run, as well as Dick Dresner (Anthony LaPaglia), who had more ties to the Clinton White House than this film lets on, and Joe Shumate (Liev Schreiber).

The film has other ties to California's new governor. Its director, Roger Spottiswoode, is responsible for one of Arnold's bombs, ``The Sixth Day,'' not to mention a couple of James Bond flicks.

Here the threesome are summoned to Russia about four months before the election (after Pete Wilson's 1996 presidential campaign crashed and burned) and are never quite sure who their benefactor is, though smart money suggests the Russian mob figures in here somewhere. Certainly, the proffering of prostitutes to the three and subsequent strong-arm techniques and vague threats give the men pause to consider who they're working for.

They never met Yeltsin, working instead through his daughter Tatiana (Svetlana Efremova), with whom, the film posits, Gorton flirted shamelessly. Goldblum's the master at this sort of oily behavior.

The joke here is that Tatiana is more idealistic about democracy than her American spin doctors, who recommend test-marketing, tarting Boris up a bit, filling campaign crowds with ringers and all sorts of muckraking. ``But that's unfair,'' she protests; the Americans react as if they've never heard of the word.

Though the film premieres tonight on Showtime, it's been available on video since last year in Russia, where those involved profess to be scandalized by its content, dismissing it as ``gibberish.'' It's possible the Russians are protesting too much; regardless, it's still a heck of a yarn, and the three lead actors work extraordinarily well together, with a glib chemistry that recalls the easygoing rapport of Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould in ``M*A*S*H.''

David Kronke, [phone]

david.kronke(at)dailynews.com

SPINNING BORIS - Three stars

What: American political consultants bring their cynical savvy to Russian democracy by advising Boris Yeltsin's 1996 presidential campaign.

Where: Showtime.

When: 8 tonight; also on Showtime Too on Wednesday and Showtime Showcase on Saturday and March 23.

In a nutshell: Cagey political satire.

CAPTION(S):

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Photo:

Jeff Goldblum, left, Liev Schreiber and Anthony LaPaglia are American political operatives whose goal is getting Russia's president re-elected in ``Spinning Boris.''