Amateur

Quirky, odd, brilliant. This is the best use of deadpan delivery I've ever seen. Martin Donovan is excellent. If you're going to rent a Hal Hartley movie you should start with this one; it's the most accessible and the funniest, and also the least stagey.

My one-line summary is about all I really have to say about the film. But hey, why don't I just throw in some filler material here? Well, okay then...

I can't honestly say that this is a "good" film: it ultimately seems vapid, empty. The plot is lame, the acting and dialogue seem dead-pan and artificial, none of the characters really grabs me and holds me. I couldn't help but feel that huge parts of the movie seem absurd (such as [without giving too much away here] the part where the police sniper pulls his head away from his rifle… and he is calmly smoking a cigarette – what's up with that??! No, police snipers do NOT do that!!!). Oh, and the ending – just when the movie really gets interesting and enjoyable right at the end, well, the damn movie just abruptly ends.

Nevertheless, it is an enjoyable film – while it lasts, that is (I'm once again referring to that abrupt ending). Did you ever see "An American Werewolf in London" (1981)? Remember how it just, well... stopped?? That's what "Amateur" did for me. It just suddenly stopped. *Note to self: good thing I didn't pay to see this in the theater, as I surely would have approached the box office and asked for at least a partial refund.

Anyway, I couldn't help enjoying the film. It is definitely a crime movie, along the lines of, say, a Joel and Ethan Coen film. But unlike those, this movie is simple, quiet, and seems to have a darkly vague and mysterious sense of satire all to itself. It's not full of over-the-top stunts, bloody shootings and car chases. There is, however, an excellent scene in which a hit man – in a case of the hunter becoming the hunted – gets plugged full of lead, and how! As a previous reviewer noted, it was a pure Monty Python worthy moment (think the Black Knight being de-limbed by King Arthur in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail").

The dialogue is either extremely deliberate or at times utterly meaningless, but it reminds me of other atmospheric sorts of movies such as "The Spanish Prisoner", "House of Games" and "August 32nd on Earth". And for that I was thankful, because it enhanced the quiet, detached feel of the film. Ditto for the filming locations. Though filmed in and around New York, it was tastefully void of splashy references to big-city surroundings.

So watch this film sometime when you are in a quiet, laid back mood, when you just want to escape the usual hype and schlock of most modern day big-budget films. You never know: given half a chance, it just may grow on you.

A final thought: if you don't instinctively know that Isabelle Huppert's last name is pronounced "oo-PAIR" and not "hup-purt", then this film may not be your cup of tea.

Isabelle is an ex-nun waiting for her special mission from God. In the meantime, she is making a living writing pornography. She meets Thomas, a sweet, confused amnesiac who cannot remember that he used to be a vicious pornographer, responsible for turning his young wife, Sofia, into the world's most notorious porn queen.

What I liked about this film was how it circled around pornographic topics, but was never itself obscene. The language is rarely crude, and there is either no nudity or such small amounts to be almost unnoticeable. Yet, three of the main characters are (or were) actively involved in the pornography business.

I also liked the cheesy line delivery (such as the bit about "floppy disks"). I don't know if this was intentional, or something that just happened because they actresses were foreign... but it added a nice charm, I thought.

I just adore this movie.I like to remember its precious lines and, particularly, its superb acting. The idea of an ex-nun writing pornography sounds an interesting one, as does her relationship with an amnesiac and an ice-cold porn star. The mystery plot is quite risible but by then you are already so inside the film that the wonderful performances manage to keep you interested. Hartley's rich creation of each of the 3 main characters finds a perfect response in each of the performances carried out by Isabelle Huppert, Martin Donovan and Elina Lowensohn, creating an incredibly touching sense of vulnerability, interdependence already suggested by the opening credits and its unforgettable music.

The conception of the characters finds great help in the paused acting and staticism of the actors, making the most of each single move of their faces. This finds its parangon in Huppert's stunning turn. We already knew how great the red-haired was (see Une affaire de femmes, to name one), but she deals here with a character which could have resulted grotesque in other hands. She provides innocence, freakiness, sympathy and a thousand more in one, making it inevitable to want to embrace her when the curtain is down and tears go down your face. Isabelle, you are the greatest!!!

Hal Hartley's "Amateur" is an engagingly offbeat take on the "crime thriller" genre. It is also perhaps the most quietly thoughtful handling of amnesia (not as a plot trick, but as a subject) you're ever likely to see. But be warned: Hartley's refreshingly non-mainstream, detached, minimalist style takes quite some getting used to, and the ending is needlessly downbeat. (**1/2)