Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV News
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsABFFPride MonthOutfest OutfrontsSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Little Nikita

  • 1988
  • PG
  • 1h 38m
IMDb RATING
5.9/10
5.8K
YOUR RATING
River Phoenix and Sidney Poitier in Little Nikita (1988)
Home Video Trailer from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Play trailer0:31
1 Video
68 Photos
DramaThriller

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.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.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
    • Bo Goldman
    • Tom Musca
  • Stars
    • Sidney Poitier
    • River Phoenix
    • Richard Jenkins
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    5.9/10
    5.8K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Richard Benjamin
    • Writers
      • John Hill
      • Bo Goldman
      • Tom Musca
    • Stars
      • Sidney Poitier
      • River Phoenix
      • Richard Jenkins
    • 29User reviews
    • 21Critic reviews
    • 50Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

    Little Nikita
    Trailer 0:31
    Watch Little Nikita

    Photos68

    Little Nikita (1988)
    Little Nikita (1988)
    Little Nikita (1988)
    Little Nikita (1988)
    River Phoenix and Sidney Poitier in Little Nikita (1988)
    River Phoenix and Richard Bradford in Little Nikita (1988)
    Richard Jenkins and Caroline Kava in Little Nikita (1988)
    River Phoenix in Little Nikita (1988)
    River Phoenix in Little Nikita (1988)
    River Phoenix in Little Nikita (1988)
    River Phoenix in Little Nikita (1988)
    River Phoenix in Little Nikita (1988)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Sidney Poitier
    Sidney Poitier
    • Roy Parmenter
    River Phoenix
    River Phoenix
    • Jeff Grant
    Richard Jenkins
    Richard Jenkins
    • Richard Grant
    Caroline Kava
    Caroline Kava
    • Elizabeth Grant
    Richard Bradford
    Richard Bradford
    • Konstantin Karpov
    Richard Lynch
    Richard Lynch
    • Scuba
    Loretta Devine
    Loretta Devine
    • Verna McLaughlin
    Lucy Deakins
    Lucy Deakins
    • Barbara Kerry
    Jerry Hardin
    Jerry Hardin
    • Brewer
    Albert Fortell
    Albert Fortell
    • Bunin
    Ronald Guttman
    Ronald Guttman
    • Spessky
    Jacob Vargas
    Jacob Vargas
    • Miguel
    Roberto Jiménez
    • Joaquin
    Robert Madrid
    Robert Madrid
    • Sergeant Leathers
    • (as Robb Madrid)
    Chez Lister
    • Tom
    Billy Stevenson
    • Tony
    • (as Bill Stevenson)
    Thomas R. Zak
    • Brett
    • (as Tom Zak)
    Newell Alexander
    Newell Alexander
    • Drill Sergeant
    • Director
      • Richard Benjamin
    • Writers
      • John Hill
      • Bo Goldman
      • Tom Musca
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

    A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon
    5.5
    A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon
    Running on Empty
    7.6
    Running on Empty
    The Thing Called Love
    6.4
    The Thing Called Love
    Sneakers
    7.1
    Sneakers
    I Love You to Death
    6.4
    I Love You to Death
    Dogfight
    7.3
    Dogfight
    Dark Blood
    6.3
    Dark Blood
    Silent Tongue
    5.2
    Silent Tongue
    Surviving
    7.4
    Surviving
    The Mosquito Coast
    6.6
    The Mosquito Coast
    My Own Private Idaho
    7.0
    My Own Private Idaho
    Circle of Violence: A Family Drama
    6.2
    Circle of Violence: A Family Drama

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      When new Columbia Pictures chief David Puttnam first watched this movie, he told Director Richard Benjamin that it was one of the worst movies he had ever seen, according to Editor Jim Clark, who was drafted in to see if he could rescue it.
    • Goofs
      Karpov says to Grant when he first meets him: "Call me 'tovarishch', which means 'friend'." Tovarishch is the Russian word for comrade, while Droog is the word for friend.
    • Quotes

      Jeff Grant: Shove this up your bladder Boris.

    • Connections
      Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Little Nikita/Vice Versa/D.O.A./Off Limits/Stand and Deliver (1988)
    • Soundtracks
      Sleeping Beauty
      Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (uncredited)

    User reviews29

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    6/10
    "Shove this up your bladder, Boris."
    River Phoenix co-stars in this political thriller as "Jeff Grant", an All-American teenager determined to enrol in the Air Force Academy to impress his parents. What he's never known is that his dad and mom (Richard Jenkins, Caroline Kava) are in reality Soviet "sleeper" agents that have long been residents of the U.S. of A. FBI agent Roy Parmenter (Sidney Poitier) finds this out, and goes out of his way to befriend Jeff, hoping to expose the parents. But while this is going on, a renegade Soviet agent, "Scuba" (Richard Lynch), is busy eliminating sleepers in hopes of a payoff. The KGB sends one of their top men, Konstantin Karpov (Richard Bradford), to apprehend Scuba.

    "Little Nikita" is directed competently enough by actor / filmmaker Richard Benjamin ("My Favourite Year"), but it's almost defeated by an utterly lousy script, credited to John Hill and Bo Goldman. It has barely a believable moment, but, to be fair, the incredible absurdity of the dialogue and scenes is good for some laughs. Poitier does give the movie some life with a lively and jokey performance; he's amusing, helping to smooth over a lot of those rough spots. Phoenix is good as the kid who's confronted with this truth about his folks that seems impossible to swallow. In fact, it's this excellent cast (also including Jerry Hardin as Poitiers' superior, Loretta Devine as a guidance counsellor who gets into bed with Poitier, and a briefly seen Lucy Deakins as Jeffs' girlfriend) that makes this preposterous movie as entertaining as it is. It really goes off the rails towards the end, with a priceless climax that turns the parents into action heroes! This is followed by more nonsense - a standoff on a trolley, a denouement on a border crossing.

    Somewhat fun on a no-brainer level, but Phoenix's next picture, "Running on Empty", about another average American kid forced to deal with an unpleasant reality about his folks, is superior.

    Six out of 10.
    helpful•7
    1
    • Hey_Sweden
    • Jun 19, 2018

    Top picks

    Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations
    Sign in

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • March 18, 1988 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Sony Movie Channel (United States)
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • 美蘇間諜戰
    • Filming locations
      • Stage 12, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Columbia Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $15,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $1,733,070
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $866,398
      • Mar 20, 1988
    • Gross worldwide
      • $1,733,070
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 38 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    River Phoenix and Sidney Poitier in Little Nikita (1988)
    Top Gap
    By what name was Little Nikita (1988) officially released in Canada in English?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.