The Amateur (1981)

A researcher for the CIA who convinces his superiors to send him to the eastern bloc in order to avenge the murder of his wife by enemy agents discovers a web of deception underneath his ... See full summary »

Director:

Charles Jarrott

Writers:

Robert Littell (novel), Robert Littell (screenplay)

Stars:

John Savage, Christopher Plummer, Marthe Keller

10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Savage	...	Charles Heller
Christopher Plummer	...	Professor Lakos
Marthe Keller	...	Elisabeth
Arthur Hill	...	Brewer
Nicholas Campbell	...	Schraeger
George Coe	...	Rutledge
John Marley	...	Molton
Jan Rubes	...	Kaplan
Ed Lauter	...	Anderson
Miguel Fernandes	...	Botaro
Jan Tríska	...	Rodzenko
Graham Jarvis	...	Porter
Jacques Godin	...	Argus
Chapelle Jaffe	...	Gretchen
Lynne Griffin	...	Sarah

Storyline

A researcher for the CIA who convinces his superiors to send him to the eastern bloc in order to avenge the murder of his wife by enemy agents discovers a web of deception underneath his wife's death.

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Plot Keywords:

murder | woman shot | topless female nudity | bare breasts | hero kills a woman | 

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Taglines:

In a world of professional assassins, there's no room for an amateur.

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Genres:

Crime | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 February 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

L'homme de Prague

Filming Locations:

Valley Halla Estate, Rouge Park, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

CAD 10,600,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$6,892,098

Company Credits

Production Co:

Balkan Productions, Tiberius Film Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of two spy films that director Charles Jarrott made in 1981. The other was Condorman (1981).

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Quotes

Kaplan: I lost my first wife, my first family. Two beautiful little girls. In the war, in the camps. I thought for a long time the loss would kill me but, I survived.
Charles Heller: How?
Kaplan: By creating a ritual to keep me alive. To survive the death of people close to you, you need a ritual. A ritual for revenge is what I made. I thought about it and planned it every waking moment. When I got out I spent three years tracking down the doctor who sent them to the camps.
Charles Heller: Did you fing him?
Kaplan: I found him, yes.
Charles Heller: What did... what...
[...]

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Connections

Featured in Sneak Previews: Quest for Fire/Union City/The Amateur/Evil Under the Sun (1982)

User Reviews

About Revenge

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.