The Amateur

I found The Amateur to be thoroughly entertaining for the very reason some viewers may not like it. This is not a slick, gadget laden action flick. The hero is a very human, run of the mill intelligence analyst (not a super spy) whose determined to avenge the death of his love interest by terrorists. Truth be told, I think this is much closer to reality than most movies of this genre. If this film were released on video I believe it could easily become a cult classic. I would certainly buy it on DVD or video if it were available. Oh and by the way, even though it's not James Bond it does have some pretty interesting action sequences.

John Savage plays 'The Amateur' of the title a CIA code scrambler who convinces his superiors to send him to the eastern bloc in order to avenge the murder of his Girlfriend by terrorists, Savage Uncovers a web of deception whilst in the Eastern Bloc, Marthe Keller costars in her typical role as a seductively mysterious German, Christopher Plummer is an intellectual lecturer who is also involved. Genre favorite and the incredibly underrated Ed Lauter also appears. the cipher would of been a much better title than 'The Amateur' other than that it is an entertaining film packed with lots of action and twists and turns.

This movie is along the lines of "Gorky Park," "The Macintosh Man" and "The Spy Who Came In from The Cold." That is, it's a dark, cerebral spy flick. I happen to love this type of movie. However, "The Amateur" pales in comparison to the others mentioned.

It could have been remarkable. The basic concept is strong, and several scenes are excellent. However, much of the dialog and editing are plodding, awkward, and slow.

Additionally, John Savage is one of the most wooden actors ever to find work in Hollywood. How anyone could have cast him in this role is beyond my comprehension. Keanu Reeves is positively Shakesperian by comparison.

I can only imagine how good this film might have been with a little quicker editing, and, say, a young Paul Newman in the lead role.

Still, if you're a fan of the genre, and can stay seated through the boring scenes, this is not a bad movie. -just far from a great one.

(1981) The Amateur THRILLER

Based on a novel written by Robert Littell, which starts out with a shocking beginning, where some Chzech terrorists take control over a CIA office located in Germany for the purpose of an exchange of their lives for a release of one of their own, otherwise if their demands are not met within 1 hour then they will kill one hostage every 15 minutes. The higher ups think the terrorists are bluffing so they pick out a name at random out of a bunch of American passports and it happens to be this guys girlfriend, and she gets shot right on the head on front of tv stations and the German police authorities. The boyfriend who also happens to work for the CIA as well as a technician extracts revenge since the American gov't doesn't want to get involved about going for their capture. So decides to be a radical by becoming a vigilante by devising a plan to blackmail for the information for their whereabouts to do just that, but at the same time want to be professionally trained to do the job himself- hence the title "The Amateur" who is the star. Extremely dull thriller since the type casting is way off base but I manage to go through it by using the fast forward button on my remote control since if I were to sit through it- it would've bored me to hell. It is happens to be action-less using suspense instead which the fast forward button could handle as well. I agree with film critic Leonard Maltin review on the movie that the actors are typecasted and so forth... and that the acting is mediocre at best, but it's worth watching if you want to see something that has never been done before.

The story is that of mystery and action. Its beginning minutes include an ordinary man seeing the broadcast of an American woman being held hostage in a foreign country. The woman is executed in broad daylight. This woman is his mate. How would you feel? What would you do? The movie focuses on the reaction of such an event by a normal guy. First there is confusion followed by deep conflict in determining the resolve. Much like it would be in today's world, an ordinary man with a small flame can kindle it into an emotionally fiery rage to react. The challenges in this venture are not glorified or unbelievable feats and therefore the viewer can achieve a state of reality and belief. Having several personal intimate experiences with our Government to include within its employ, and having lived and worked in foreign countries as well, I find it real easy to dismiss the few negative feedback remarks on this film as being authored in ignorance or being naive. I do love my country but is everyone an Angel within its employ? no way.... Would the Government refuse to negotiate publicly with terrorist yet negotiate amongst themselves? absolutely.... If you have a military background, specialized training or even just been an outdoors person you may also identify with a lot of the physical activity in this film. The story is even more interesting now over two decades later after its making, having a beginning that parallels the recent American executions video-taped and published by Al-Qaeda early this 21st century. This movie is by far one of John Savage's greatest performances. Savage delivers a stellar performance in this picture. This is a great film and one of best of the less known adventure films in existence today. If you get the chance to sit and watch this movie from start to finish, you will be entertained- try to see this one.