Little Nikita (1988)

An F.B.I. Agent works to uncover an All-American family as Soviet sleeper Agents, and gets caught up in friendship with their unaware son.

Director:

Richard Benjamin

Writers:

John Hill (screenplay), Bo Goldman (screenplay)

Stars:

Sidney Poitier, River Phoenix, Richard Jenkins

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sidney Poitier	...	Roy Parmenter
River Phoenix	...	Jeff Grant
Richard Jenkins	...	Richard Grant
Caroline Kava	...	Elizabeth Grant
Richard Bradford	...	Konstantin Karpov
Richard Lynch	...	Scuba
Loretta Devine	...	Verna McLaughlin
Lucy Deakins	...	Barbara Kerry
Jerry Hardin	...	Brewer
Albert Fortell	...	Bunin
Robert Madrid	...	Sgt. Leathers (as Robb Madrid)
Ronald Guttman	...	Spessky
Jacob Vargas	...	Miguel
Roberto Jiménez	...	Joaquin
Chez Lister	...	Tom

Storyline

Roy Parmenter is a veteran FBI agent who has spent the last 20 years trying to find the Russian agent who killed his partner whom he calls Scuba. When a couple of deep cover Russian agents are killed Parmenter thinks Scuba is the one doing it. The Russians who have received word from Scuba that if they want him to stop, they have to pay him. So they send a veteran Russian agent, Karpov to stop him. Parmenter was tasked with performing background checks on people applying for certain things requiring security clearance and when he comes across Jeffrey Grant who's applying to the Air Force Academy, he discovers that his parents' info is false. He also learns of Karpov coming into the country and suspects that he is here to stop Scuba and that Karpov went to the city where Jeffrey and his family live, so he decides to keep an eye on Jeffrey and his family.

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Plot Keywords:

san diego california | high school | sleeper agent | hostage | held at gunpoint | 

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Taglines:

He went to bed an all-American kid and woke up the son of Russian spies.

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sidney Poitier once added a compliment for his then young co-star: "I feel River Phoenix is one of our finest young actors and destined to leave an indelible imprint on American films."

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Goofs

When Karpov gets into the cab after crossing the border, the camera, crew, lights and a bounce board are reflected in the window.

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Quotes

Jeff Grant: [walks in on his high school guidance counselor and Roy in bed] Ms. McLaughlin! Is this work experience?
Roy Parmenter: Go out in the yard! I'll be out in a minute.
Roy Parmenter: [to Verna, sheepishly] Life's little surprises...
Verna McLaughlin: No problem. I'll just go topless for the rest of the student body.

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Connections

Referenced in Abduction (2011)

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Soundtracks

Sleeping Beauty
Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (uncredited)

User Reviews

great actors in weak movie

The Soviets suspect their agent nicknamed Scuba (Richard Lynch) is killing their deep agents and blackmailing them. They send agent Karpov (Richard Bradford) to stop him. In San Diego, FBI agent Roy Parmenter (Sidney Poitier) has been hunting Scuba for killing his partner. He discovers false information on the Air Force Academy application of Jeffrey Grant (River Phoenix) and suspects his parents Richard (Richard Jenkins) and Elizabeth (Caroline Kava).

There are a lot of dead bodies and it seems only Parmenter is on the case. The Russian characters are too Russian. They are literally meeting at the ballet. Despite having some great actors, this doesn't have the needed gritty realism. The idea of Russian sleeper agents in the suburbs could be interesting but this is not well executed. River Phoenix continues to be great. His next movie 'Running on Empty' has a superior family with secret identities.

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Movie Channel [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 March 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Little Nikita

Filming Locations:

VA Hospital - 11301 Wilshire Blvd., Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$866,398, 20 March 1988

Gross USA:

$1,733,070

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,733,070

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1