The Ambassador (1984)

An American ambassador to Israel tries to bring peace to the Middle East conflict through unconventional methods, but his efforts are hampered at every turn and his personal life threatened.

Director:

J. Lee Thompson

Writers:

Max Jack, Elmore Leonard (novel)

Stars:

Robert Mitchum, Ellen Burstyn, Rock Hudson

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Mitchum	...	Peter Hacker
Ellen Burstyn	...	Alex Hacker
Rock Hudson	...	Frank Stevenson
Fabio Testi	...	Mustapha Hashimi
Donald Pleasence	...	Minister Eretz
Chelli Goldenberg	...	Rachel (as Heli Goldenberg)
Michal Bat-Adam	...	Tova
Ori Levy	...	Abe
Uri Gavriel	...	Assad
Zachi Noy	...	Ze'ev
Joseph Shiloach	...	Shimon
Shmulik Kraus	...	Stone
Yossi Virginsky	...	Asher
Yftach Katzur	...	Lenny
Shai Schwartz	...	Gadi

Storyline

Robert Mitchum plays a controversial U.S. ambassador to Israel who tries to solve the Palestinian question while being criticized by all factions, which takes a turn when his wife begins having an affair with a PLO chief. Rock Hudson (in his last theatrical movie role) plays Mitchum's chief security officer who saves his life in an assassination attempt and tries to help him resolve the conflicts around them.

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Plot Keywords:

female nudity | plo | ambassador | israel | palestinian | 

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Taglines:

His career is in jeopardy... His marriage is in ruins... And his life is in danger... HE'S THROUGH NEGOTIATING.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Thriller | War

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 January 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

Peacemaker

Filming Locations:

Negev Desert, Israel

Company Credits

Production Co:

Northbrook Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (TVC)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

During most of the filming in the winter of 1983-84 the two leading stars, Robert Mitchum and Rock Hudson, reportedly did not get along with each other. A life-long alcoholic, Mitchum was said to have been frequently drunk on and off camera, and often verbally clashed with Hudson who was in poor health which held up production for days.

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Goofs

The guy in shades who keeps stalking the ambassador's wife through the streets vanishes from the story after detonating a bomb that almost killed her. His fate is never revealed and he's never seen again.

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Connections

Referenced in Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (1987)

User Reviews

Way Too Much is Going On Here

The Ambassador (1984)

** (out of 4)

Well-meaning but incredibly over-active thriller has Robert Mitchum playing the American ambassador to Israel who is trying to bring peace in the Middle East. While him and his security advisor (Rock Hudson) are getting shot at, his wife (Ellen Burstyn) is banging a man (Fabio Testi) but neither one realizes that some terrorists are video taping their love sessions to blackmail the ambassador. Pretty soon it is revealed that the wife's lover might have terrorist ties himself.

Cannon was known for releasing countless action pictures that were usually rather mindless and just exploited the various subjects that they were covering. Film like DEATH WISH II, MISSING IN ACTION and AMERICAN NINJA were among the studios most popular pictures but THE AMBASSADOR is something completely different. It's clear that Cannon wanted to send a message to the Middle East that peace was possible but unfortuantly for them the movie just went off the rails so to speak. This picture simply tried to do way too much and in the end it's pretty much a complete mess.

The film is really all over the place in regards to what it's trying to do and it almost seems as if no one could agree on what to do with the picture. It starts off with some incredibly wild and over-the-top action scenes and so far so good. Then you've got a rather sleazy sex scene between Burstyn and Testi, which includes the actress doing some nudity. Again, so far it's fun. You then get into an incredibly long political drama about the whole peace idea and then there's some shocking and incredibly bloody violence that pops up at the end. All the while Mitchum and Hudson are trying to uncover this terrorist plot and get the sex tape back before it reaches the media.

I'm going to guess Cannon really wanted a serious drama but there wasn't a way to make money on that alone so additional bits of action were thrown in. Thompson, who was working in mainly "B" pictures at this time, manages to build up some nice action but the drama of the story is downright weak and the "message" of the movie is a bit silly to say the least. The film just never really packs a punch or builds up any sort of tension so the non-stop political talk eventually gets boring and when Mitchum's character isn't worried about the sex tape then why should the viewer be?

The film benefits from its terrific cast and that alone makes it worth sitting through. I think had Mitchum and Hudson switched roles the film might have been better but it was still fun seeing them together. Burstyn in good in her role of the wife and Testi is always dependable. You've also got Donald Pleasence so that's another plus. The film's violent climax features some gory shots that I'm sure shocked most people at the time of the film's release unless they were fans of slashers and were already used to it.

In the end, THE AMBASSADOR has its heart in the right place but it just never fully comes together.