The Amateur (1981)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Charles Jarrott

Writers:

Robert Littell (novel)
Robert Littell (screenplay)

Release Date:

12 February 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

The first 11 minutes will absolutely shock you. The last 11 minutes will rivet you to your seat.

Plot:

A researcher for the CIA who convinces his superiors to send him to the eastern bloc in order to avenge...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Blackmail | Cold War | Defibrillation | Communist

Awards:

10 nominations

Cast

John Savage	...	Charles Heller
Christopher Plummer	...	Professor Lakos
Marthe Keller	...	Elisabeth
Arthur Hill	...	Brewer
Nicholas Campbell	...	Schraeger
George Coe	...	Rutledge
John Marley	...	Molton
Jan Rubes	...	Kaplan
Ed Lauter	...	Anderson
Miguel Fernandes	...	Botaro
Jan Triska	...	Rodzenko
Graham Jarvis	...	Porter
Jacques Godin	...	Argus
Chapelle Jaffe	...	Gretchen
Lynne Griffin	...	Sarah

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | UK:15 | UK:AA (1981) | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1982) | USA:R (Certificate #26475) | France:-12 | Norway:18 (1982) | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Washington, District of Columbia, USA

Company:

Balkan Productions

About Revenge

This movie explores revenge, why, the morality, the effects, so it is somewhat deeper than your usual simple blood revenge flic.

The movie starts out portraying the CIA as a bunch of boy scouts. I said to myself "Get real". However, as the layers of the onion peel off, a much darker picture emerges. I won't spoil the surprises.

The movie has a very relaxed pace by modern standards.

Nicholas Campbell plays a terrorist. You only get to see him for brief glimpses. His astounding good looks are distracting. It is hard to whip up fear or hate for someone so startlingly handsome.

The movie keeps you guessing who is behind the relentless legions out to kill our naive hero. His endless narrow escapes from a variety of enemies severely stretch credulity. After all, before this began, he had never even held a gun.

I really enjoyed the setting, Prague, including the beautiful warm cozy interiors. Exotic settings are a third of my enjoyment from the genre.

Much of the dialog is not in English. There are no subtitles. This is an artistic device, since the hero has only shaky knowledge of languages other than English. It makes you see things from his point of view.

The scene where the hero dispatches the female terrorist is shocking, even by today's gruesome standards, with much the effect the piano wire assassination had way back in From Russia With Love.