The Osterman Weekend (1983)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Sam Peckinpah

Writers:

Robert Ludlum (novel)
Ian Masters (adaptation)

Release Date:

14 October 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

The one weekend of the year you won't want to miss.

Plot:

The host of an investigative news show is convinced by the CIA that the friends he has invited to a...

Plot Keywords:

Conspiracy | Friend | Weekend | CIA | Panties

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Rutger Hauer	...	John Tanner
John Hurt	...	Lawrence Fassett
Craig T. Nelson	...	Bernard Osterman
Dennis Hopper	...	Richard Tremayne
Chris Sarandon	...	Joseph Cardone
Meg Foster	...	Ali Tanner
Helen Shaver	...	Virginia Tremayne
Cassie Yates	...	Betty Cardone
Sandy McPeak	...	Stennings
Christopher Starr	...	Steve Tanner
Burt Lancaster	...	Maxwell Danforth
Cheryl Carter	...	Marcia Heller
John Bryson	...	Honeymoon Groom
Anne Haney	...	Honeymoon Bride
Kristen Peckinpah	...	Tremayne's Secretary

Also Known As:

Mission CIA (Philippines: English title)

Runtime:

103 min | USA:116 min (director's cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Finland:K-16 (2000) | Finland:K-18 (1983) | Norway:15 (re-rating) | Norway:16 (original rating) | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (video re-rating) (2004) | UK:18 (original rating) | UK:18 (video rating) (1986) | USA:R (certificate #27156) | West Germany:16 | Australia:M

Company:

Osterman Weekend Associates

Trivia:

Burt Lancaster celebrated his 70th birthday while filming, and the cast and crew threw him a special honorary birthday party on set.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When Tanner goes to the airport, we hear jets taking off and see a sign revealing the place to be the Oxnard Airport in Ventura County. In real life this is a small airport with no facilities for passenger jet takeoff.

Quotes:

[the Motorcycle Cop pulls Osterman over]
Bernard Osterman: What's the trouble?
Motorcycle Cop: Can I see your license, please?
Bernard Osterman: Yeah, I wasn't speeding though. I've given that up. You know I've cut, I've cut way back on speeding. I've cut, cut it way down.
Motorcycle Cop: Yeah I thought that was you, you write for TV, don't ya?
Bernard Osterman: Yeah that's me. Yeah I'm, I'm on my way to catch a plane though, right.
Motorcycle Cop: Oh, don't worry, you'll make it. I like your stuff, Mister Osterman. Only sometimes I think you tend to be a little strident, ya know.
Bernard Osterman: Strident? Are you giving me a ticket for strident writing are you? That means the death penalty for Beverly Hills parking violations is coming back too, huh?
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Operation Double 007 (#6.8)" (1993)

Not the movie I wanted to see

I watched this movie twice over one weekend. "Twice" you ask and then gave it a 2? Well, the first time I watched it with the sideways look that a dog might give its master when thoroughly confused. The second time was only because I could not believe that it was as bad and unintelligible as I thought it had been. As it turned out, I was right the first time.

This is a movie for those who have read the book and want to complete the Osterman cycle...book and movie. Then the movie would, perhaps, make sense. As a stand alone film, it seems to hope to rely on its vagueness and strangeness to make the viewer believe he is watching a genius at work, but alas, "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar".