Is 'Moscow on the Hudson' Secretly a Political Thriller in Disguise?

Okay, so I just watched "Moscow on the Hudson" (1984). I know, I'm late to the party, but bear with me. At first, it totally felt like a fish-out-of-water comedy, right? Robin Williams is hilarious, struggling to navigate NYC after defecting in Bloomingdale's. The whole culture shock thing is played up BIG TIME. But as I kept watching, I started thinking... is this movie secretly a political thriller disguised as a lighthearted comedy? Think about it: Vladimir (Williams) doesn't just stumble into defecting. He's clearly been thinking about it, feeling trapped by the Soviet regime. And the constant anxiety he shows, especially in the beginning, is more than just culture shock. It's fear of being caught, fear of the consequences, fear for his family back home. The whole Bloomingdale's scene, when he makes the spur of the moment decision, is charged with a kind of desperation that feels totally real. And the way the KGB is portrayed, as this looming presence...it feels menacing! I feel like maybe the comedy is there to disarm you, so you don't realize how seriously the movie treats the themes of freedom and repression. My crazy theory is that the director (whoever they are) deliberately used comedy to make the political message more palatable to a wider audience. Maybe if it had been straight-up serious, people wouldn't have watched it. But putting Robin Williams in the lead, making it funny and heartwarming, somehow makes the underlying political commentary hit harder. I actually got emotional towards the end when he's talking about missing his old life but knowing he can never go back. I mean, that's HEAVY stuff. What does everyone else think? Am I reading too much into this? Or is there something more to "Moscow on the Hudson" than just a funny fish-out-of-water story? Let me know your thoughts! (Also, slightly unrelated, but does anyone know what kind of sax he's playing? I want to get one like it!)