The Amateurs (2005)

Citizens of a small town, under the influence of a man in the midst of a mid-life crisis, come together to make an adult film.

Director:

Michael Traeger

Writer:

Michael Traeger

Stars:

Jeff Bridges, Ted Danson, Joe Pantoliano

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jeff Bridges	...	Andy Sargentee
Tim Blake Nelson	...	Barney Macklehatton
Joe Pantoliano	...	Some Idiot
Ted Danson	...	Moose
William Fichtner	...	Otis
Patrick Fugit	...	Emmett
John Hawkes	...	Moe
Brad William Henke	...	Ron (as Brad Henke)
Dawn Didawick	...	Clara
Glenne Headly	...	Helen Tatelbaum
Tom Bower	...	Floyd
Jayne Taini	...	Mrs. Morrelli
Lauren Graham	...	Peggy
Jeanne Tripplehorn	...	Thelma
Alex D. Linz	...	Billy

Storyline

Andy Sargentee is a decent guy and the town's favorite failure: an unemployable dreamer whose ex's husband's wealth intimidates Andy to such an extent he does little with his teen son. Andy's new idea is for Butterface Fields to be the first town to band together to make the first full-length feature amateur adult film. He recruits five regulars at Floyd's Bar to contribute $2000 each. They get the kid at the video store, whose camcorder is constantly on, to be the cinematographer. The pal they all call "Some Idiot" volunteers to be writer-director. Otis becomes producer. Now, can they find actors, and especially, women? Can a pornography project give Andy self-respect?

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Plot Keywords:

small town | loser | sex | wealth | friend | 

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Taglines:

Not your average adult movie.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexual content and language

Details

Country:

USA Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 April 2006 (UK)

Also Known As:

The Amateurs

Filming Locations:

Arcadia, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$10,149, 9 December 2007, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$15,090, 16 December 2007

Company Credits

Production Co:

First Look International,Qwerty Films,N1 European Film Produktions GmbH & Co. KG

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

[All goofs for this title are spoilers.]

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Quotes

Otis: Who wants to get laid?

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Crazy Credits

Before the end credits, you can see the credits for the documentary they made: Writer-Director - Some Idiot Producer - Andy Sargentee Executive Producer - Otis Cartwright Co-producer & Head of PR (2 Things) - Barney Macklehatton Cinemaphotographer & Editor - Emmett Wilder Almost Starring - Moose Bailey The town of Butterface Fields wishes to thank the town of Butterface Fields In loving memory of Lillian and Sidney Sargentee

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Alternate Versions

The first 15 minutes of the American release (up until the opening titles sequence) have been completely re-edited and re-worked from the original UK and Australian release.

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Connections

References Sophie's Choice (1982)

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Soundtracks

You Are My Lady
Written by Barry Eastmond (as Barry James Eastman)
Performed by Freddie Jackson
Courtesy of Capitol Records
Under License from EMI Film & Television

User Reviews

An entertaining adult comedy

I just got back tonight from an early screening of a new movie with Jeff Bridges called The Amateurs at Penn State. The movie was originally meant to be screened last month, with an appearance by co-star Joe Pantoliano. Joey Pants did come (his daughter is a student here), but technical difficulties plagued the screening twenty minutes in. Joe was very apologetic and stayed to answer questions for a while and in the meantime they set up another screening for tonight. No Joe tonight (he's apparently filming a new pilot for CBS about waterfront crime), but the movie did work so I can tell you what it's all about.

Jeff Bridges stars as a recent divorcée who is down on his luck in a small town. Looking for a way to make it big and have the means to spoil his son, he decides to make a porn movie. He does this with the help of his supportive friends, including Pantoliano, Ted Danson, William Fichtner, Tim Blake Nelson and Patrick Fugit. Their film will be distinctive because it will be made by and feature talent from their own small town. Now I know this entire plot sounds kind of corny but it is well executed – everyone laughed pretty hard throughout.

Besides having a great cast, what makes this movie different is that it is a sex comedy for and by adults. This may be a tough sell, but I can say that at least half of tonight's audience was definitely professors and community members, rather than students. Though there is little nudity or hard language, this is an R-movie because of its frank discussion of sex. It's funny because these guys are trying to be respectful by replacing words for genitalia with other appropriate, but ridiculous terms.

As I mentioned, the cast was great and everyone was prefect for their role. Pantoliano plays the appropriately named writer-director of the production, Some Idiot. Danson plays a gay friend who tries too hard at hiding his sexual orientation, making for some very funny and awkward moments. Fichtner does a really good job with making a fairly plain character entertaining and fun to watch. Bridges plays a loser in the vein of "The Dude", except he's got it together a little more and is a little cleaner cut. About half of Bridges performance is voice-over as well, which was done fairly well. My biggest complaint would be that their female characters receive very little screen time and are underdeveloped. The cut we saw really underused Lauren Graham and Judy Greer.

The film was written and directed by Michael Traeger, whose most notable previous credit was writing the script of MTV's Dead Man on Campus (ouch). The script was really funny and the direction was suitable, though not very special. Based on what Joe said at the first screening, it sounds like they will only be changing the opening of the film – so the cut I saw was pretty close to finished. I believe it will be hitting theaters late spring/early summer. All in all it was an entertaining little indie comedy and its worth checking out for a good laugh.