A Bunch of Amateurs (2008)

User Rating:

5.1/10   

Director:

Andy Cadiff

Writers:

Nick Newman (screenplay) &
John Ross (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

2009 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

They wished for a star, then wished they hadn't.

Plot:

A sleazy Hollywood agent tricks one of his clients, a faded action star, into playing King Lear in an amateur charity production in England. |

Cast

Burt Reynolds	...	Jefferson Steel
Alexandra Weaver	...	Girl on Motorbike
Elesia Ennis	...	1st Cinema Girl
Sarah Goldberg	...	2nd Cinema Girl
Glynis Brooks	...	Woman In Street
Camilla Arfwedson	...	Amanda Blacke
Michael Wildman	...	Mr. Darcy
Guy Flanagan	...	Box Office Guy
John Moraitis	...	Man In Theatre
Pat Starr	...	Woman In Theatre
Maisie Scott	...	Young Amanda
Charles Durning	...	Charlie Rosenberg
Pandora Colin	...	Nadine
Lucy Akhurst	...	Stewardess
Stephen Gressieux	...	Italian Tourist (as Stefano Gressieux)

Runtime:

UK:96 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

Ireland:15A

Filming Locations:

Hambledon, Hampshire, England, UK

Company:

CinemaNX

Trivia:

Burt Reynolds reportedly had significant difficulty learning his lines (especially the Shakespeare) throughout shooting. A number of the scenes from Lear needed idiot boards in the wings, though despite this Reynolds was less than accurate much of the time. Imelda Staunton on more than one occasion made her frustration with this quite vocally known, and some of the lines used in the film differ quite greatly from the original play-scripts.

Fantastic fun for am-dram

I saw this twice today on DVD and loved it. Of course, it's pure fantasy and I wish it had really been shot in one of Suffolk's Stratfords, though the Isle of Man serves well enough. Burt Reynolds does grumpy very well and, as ever, isn't afraid to send himself up - and nor is the great Derek Jacobi as his bitchy rival. I thought Imelda Staunton's turn as his adoring, then disillusioned fan overdone, but Samantha Bond is a tour de force as his less enchanted director. The build-up to the storm scene is ingenious and when he gets out of his vehicle Reynolds shows that he can cut the mustard as Lear. Of course, the other members of the Stratford Theatre Company are improbably good actors, but I shan't complain. The final twist is an extra treat. What a shame only Her Majesty seems to have seen the film in the cinema