The Amateur (1982)

Best movie ever!

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

I always thought this was a good spy film. It's not a big budget film. Maybe the lackluster reviews are because of the story arc painting the USA gov't in a bad light. I will say SPOILER ALERT I AM GIVING AWAY MAIN PLOT POINTS HERE BELOW. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED SO Don't Whine. Don't read below: ################################################################# Savage works for CIA in a non spy boring job. His wife happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time and is part of a terrorist hostage taking operation. The terrorists make demands and threaten to kill hostages. Officials balk and try to negotiate. They bring out a hostage (savage wife) on TV. Terrorist kills his wife and Savage see's it on live TV. Officials give into demands and terrorists fly off to Eastern Europe during Cold war. Savage is told nothing CIA can do as they are protected in Eastern Europe. Savage is not buying it and as a cryptographer he gets hold of embarrassing CIA files and basically black mails the CIA to send him to the FARM and be trained as a field agent. Behind the scenes CIA is trying to track down the black mailed files which Savage has hidden and also given to a reporter friend for protection. Savage gets his mission for revenge. The CIA tracks and cuts a deal with the reporter for the files. Not knowing Savage has a copy hidden. Right after he crosses border CIA tries to hunt Savage to kill him now that Savage has lost his leverage. Meanwhile Savage tracks down the terrorists... I will stop here and say that the following plot point ends up making the US gov't CIA look badly while the Soviet KGB officer in film comes out looking good.I think this is a good spy film. In fact it was a small film and a lot of it's plot you can see in other future films. The Bourne films with Matt Damon have some of this film in them. As do other's. A lot of Hollywood big films take small films like this film's plot points and use the idea's for larger films knowing the general public may not have seen it. TOO bad a remake wasn't made as alleged on the board. The main plot points would make an interesting updated film. Contrary to a reviewer about Czech footage. Since this is cold war it should look bleak. In fact I am going to re watch this film.----------- TJH

It requires a complete suspension of disbelief for the viewer to engage in the baffling circus of events that make up the groaning plot of this film. Savage is a CIA cryptanalyst who upon the murder of his girlfriend in Munich decides to blackmail his employer into allowing him to carry out a reckless revenge plot in Czechoslovakia with a .45 and some plastic explosives. The government, who refuses to negotiate with the terrorists for his girlfriend's life at the beginning of the film, rolls over with hardly a grumble to Savage's demands and simply trains him for his "mission." Once he has received a good day or two of training, he eloquently tells them he is done -- he "would flunk out anyway" by golly. So without hesitation they send him into the abyss, because... well he told 'em to. Mr. Bean, or Inspector Clueso, would have been less obtrusive than the snaggly brown toothed "amateur" spy carrying out this spoiled-boy spree of hapless chaos. He spends nearly every scene (literally) running through the streets of eastern Europe and -shouting- corny English expressions to his equally incompetent female associate. He couldn't stand out more if he had CIA written in red paint on his face. You will be hard pressed to remain awake for the action, but that is okay because there simply isn't much of it to be had. What started as an interesting premise, logic aside, turns into a dreary romp that gets more boring with each turn. If you survive to the end you will be equally baffled by the inept and abrupt conclusion. I'm certain Lindsy Lohan has written better scripts than this on her blackberry after imbibing several bottles of raspberry Vodka. Don't waste your time.

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.

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.