A Bunch of Amateurs (2008)

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

Director:

Andy Cadiff

Writers:

Nick Newman (screenplay), John Ross (screenplay),

Stars:

Burt Reynolds, Alexandra Weaver, Elesia Marie

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Burt Reynolds	...	Jefferson Steel
Alexandra Weaver	...	Girl on Motorbike
Elesia Marie	...	1st Cinema Girl (as Elesia Ennis)
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)

Storyline

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

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Plot Keywords:

self deprecation | reference to william shakespeare | english | reference to shakespeare's king lear

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Műkedvelő társulat

Filming Locations:

Hambleden, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£91,156 (UK) (19 December 2008)

Gross:

£201,849 (UK) (26 December 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Isle of Man Film, CinemaNX, Limelight

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The setting of the little village of Stratford St. John, which is mistakenly confused as Stratford-Upon-Avon, was not even filmed in England but at two farm villages in the Isle of Man, they being at Bishopscourt Farm in Kirk Michael and Ballahott Farm in Ballasalla.

User Reviews

A charming film

I'm a Burt Reynolds fan - there i have admitted it! Anyway, to see a film of his get a theatrical release made this a must see film for me...and i wasn't disappointed. No need to go over the plot but all the performances in the film are excellent and Burt is the best he has been for years..in fact since Boogie Nights in my opinion. Like the other comments, there were no really laugh out loud moments but just a nice stream of funny,well acted and moving moments. The scene at the start were Jefferson Steele was watching an old home movie of his daughter was moving,well acted by Burt.

He obviously was quite happy to send himself as the has-been star (so appropriate) but still with a lot to prove. Despite all the bad plastic surgery he has had, he didn't look too bad in this film..and that in itself made me pleased.

So overall, this is charming,warm hearted film with some great performances. As for Burt, his best film in years, without any doubt. He is obviously still a great actor, with tremendous screen prescence and is rightly hailed as Hollywood legend. I just hope we see more of Burt in films of this quality.