The Osterman Weekend (1983)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Truly Dreadful Film

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

CIA director Maxwell Danforth (Burt Lancaster) does a deal with the Soviets and let them kill agent Laurence Fassett (John Hurt)'s wife. Fassett is unaware of the deal and is tracking down Soviet agent Omega. He tells TV personality John Tanner (Rutger Hauer) that his friends are all working for Omega. Tanner and his friends are gathering for the weekend. Fassett sets his home up with surveillance. Tanner tries to send his wife Ali (Meg Foster) and son away but they are almost kidnapped. Tanner's friends include his TV producer Bernard Osterman (Craig T. Nelson), plastic surgeon Richard Tremayne (Dennis Hopper) and his coke-snorting wife Virginia (Helen Shaver), and stock trader Joseph Cardone (Chris Sarandon) and wife Betty (Cassie Yates).This story is a mess and the execution doesn't solve anything. Director Sam Peckinpah's last feature film is full questionable things. It's too many to list. Even his action sequences are badly done. He overuses his trademark slow motion shots which seems very dated. Other action directors have pass him by. Then there is the plot. It's not simply plot holes but more about motivations. I don't understand why Fassett is doing what he's doing. It's all quite a mess.

*SPOILERS*SPOILERS*SPOILERS*SPOILERS*SPOILERS*SPOILERS*SPOILERS*This is the last movie of famous movie director Sam Peckinpah ("The Wild bunch" , "Bonnie and Clyde" ) . Unfortunately , this one belongs to his weaker movies . Too bad , because it had some real potential . The movie is based on Robert Ludlum novel with the same title . From what I've heard the screenplay was heavily rewritten, so in the end the movie isn't exactly too loyal to the book. Nevertheless it's the screenplay which is the biggest problem of the movie. I've seen this movie two times and I wasn't able to find the answers for my questions. I think "The Osterman weekend" has some big plot holes that destroy the movie. If Hurt was only interested in Hauer then why all the trouble ? Wasn't it much easier for him to kidnap his family and blackmail him ? After all he only wanted the interview . The murder of Hurts wife also doesn't makes sense . They really wanted to convince Hurt that her death was natural ? That she died from heart attack ? There was blood bleeding from her nose and they left a huge trace of needle on her nose , for God's sake. The actions of Hurts henchman are also idiotic. Hurt needs Hauer alive , but they doing everything they can to kill him. But the most stupid thing is the ending . The movie BETRAYS THE TWIST TO THE AUDIENCE that Hauer isn't in the studio while the interview is on TV. And how did Hauer find out where Hurt is ? He did used some kind of heat sensor , but how did he knew that he should go to the port (or wherever Hurt was hiding ) ?Peckinpah was sick while he was making "TOW" and it shows . The pacing is rather bad . The movie never seems to catch any kind of rhythm . Also , the slow motion scenes that Peckinpah is known for ( for modern audiences probably less than John Woo) here are looking absolutely awful . Very cheesy , with no dynamic and beauty. Bad montage . The music by Lalo Schifrin is also strangely inadequate. There is some impressive cast here : Rutger Hauer ( "Blade runner") , John Hurt ("1984") , Burt Lancaster ("Birdman of Alcatraz") , Dennis Hopper ("Blue Velvet") and Craig T. Nelson ("Poltergeist") . None of them fails . They all give really solid performances , especially Hauer and Hurt . Hauer doesn't quite fit the role of a TV journalist , but in the end I didn't mind it. There is some violence and nudity here . It's also interesting that both Ludlum and Peckinpah are showing us some kind of reality show before the idea of reality show even appeared. This is also the most intriguing part of the movie , when Peckinpah was able to create some true psychological tension between the characters.Still , this one was a disappointment . Not a total failure , but definitely below the expectations. I give it 4/10.

I caught this movie, the other night on one of the premium cable channels, I think IFC or Sundance, I had read about the movie previously over the years, but never saw it. WoW! What a movie. There are def not anyone in this country that could make such an intelligent insightful movie about politics, today. The movie is very astute in terms of its analysis of the political structure in this country, and it was definitely too much for the average viewer upon its release in 1983. It is still too much today. But its message is still relevant, of how nothing is at seems, we are all pawns, how are whole government is just a front or cover which masks the true power structure in tnis country. We individually have no power, we are again pawns that are moved to one postion from the other, completely unaware of what is really going on. We are pawns that are played against each other, white against black, brown against black, straight against gay, men against women, etc..in the background they watch and laugh at us, we are such simpletons..eg. we still believe(that Universal Suffrage) that our elections in this country mean something...etc I think that is a very hard message for people to accept, the tragic thing is that with the recent collapse of our economy, people will actually come to realize this finally...

The last hurrah of legendary maverick director Sam Peckinpah was a cynically interesting, but unsatisfying accomplishment. Taken off Robert Ludlum's novel, and penned by Alan Sharp. This tight and calculated adaptation on the intrusiveness of media manipulation and surveillance for personal gain effectively exposes the dark corrupted underbelly, and the paranoia that follows it within the Cold War era. It's quite a topical subject. The complex script can feel convoluted, but the lean and nervous layout pulls you in. Appearances can deceive, and it becomes a real relationship tester between the characters on just who's behind the puppet work. The drama within these moments work well, and draw you in as the characters begin ask questions about each other, and their motives. Although the more I think, and concentrated on the plot details. The more I seemed to question the story's progression, and outcome. Sure it compels, but it leaves some niggles.Leading the way is a very solid showing by the ensemble cast of character actors. Rutger Hauer' superbly uneasy, but patriotically brave lead performance heads up the cast. John Hurt builds quite a good turn, in getting you suspicious about his CIA character. The three men that are under the microscope are brilliantly played by a twitchy Dennis Hopper, hasty Chris Sarandon and a spiritually calm Craig T. Nelson. Showing up in strong support are the ladies too. Meg Foster ably holds her own with a hard-nose turn. Her eyes are beautifully striking. Helen Shaver is lively seductive and lewd, as Hooper's cocaine addict wife and Cassie Yates is prominently good. Burt Lancaster's small, but controlled performance lends well too.Peckinpah's structured direction features a lot of his recognizable staples. Like his precisely polished set-pieces of slow-mo (no one else does it better) to the kinetic camera-work and the poetic-like violence. It's beautiful to watch, and quite suspenseful. However sometimes it just felt like an uneven balance between what the writer wanted, and Peckinpah visualised. Technically the film was competently executed, but seemed a little cold. Lalo Schifrin's fantastic music score is experimentally saucy, and eerie with some delicate acoustic touches.Intellectually too smart for its own good? Maybe, but this paranoia political thriller does keep one watching until the end.