A Bunch of Amateurs (2008)

A sleazy Hollywood agent tricks one of his clients, a faded action star, into playing King Lear in an amateur charity production in England.

Director:

Andy Cadiff

Writers:

Jonathan Gershfield (screenplay), John Ross (screenplay)

Stars:

Burt Reynolds, Alexandra Weaver, Elesia Marie

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Burt Reynolds	...	Jefferson Steel
Alexandra Weaver	...	Girl on Motorbike
Elesia Marie	...	1st Cinema Girl (as Elesia Ennis)
Sarah Goldberg	...	2nd Cinema Girl
Glynis Brooks	...	Woman In Street
Camilla Arfwedson	...	Amanda Blacke
Michael Wildman	...	Mr. Darcy
Guy Flanagan	...	Box Office Guy
John Moraitis	...	Man In Theatre
Pat Starr	...	Woman In Theatre
Maisie Scott	...	Young Amanda
Charles Durning	...	Charlie Rosenberg
Pandora Colin	...	Nadine
Lucy Akhurst	...	Stewardess
Stephen Gressieux	...	Italian Tourist (as Stefano Gressieux)

Storyline

A sleazy Hollywood agent tricks one of his clients, a faded action star, into playing King Lear in an amateur charity production in England.

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Plot Keywords:

english countryside | rural england | amateur theatre | faded actor | celebrity | 

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Taglines:

They wished for a star, then wished they hadn't.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Banda amatorów

Filming Locations:

Hambleden, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,096,787

Company Credits

Production Co:

Isle of Man Film, CinemaNX, Limelight

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

First major theatrically released movie for Burt Reynolds which was filmed in the U.K. since Rough Cut (1980).

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Quotes

Jefferson Steel: You know what happened to the last director who thought they were smarter than me?
Dorothy Nettle: They won an Oscar?

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Crazy Credits

The end credits for the main cast appear one at a time as the actors in the play take their curtain call and bow to the audience in the theatre or, alternatively, in twos as they're sitting in the audience, applauding.

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Soundtracks

Still in the Game
Music by Christian Henson & Caroline Lost
Lyrics by Caroline Lost
Performed by Caroline Lost

User Reviews

Amusing snapshot of life in an am dram society

As someone thoroughly immersed in am dram and in particular Shakespeare I found this film thoroughly entertaining. I must admit that having loved Burt Reynolds in the good old days when he was in Riverboat on TV, I did a double take when I saw his very odd plastic surgery face, that could hardly register an expression. When I got over that, the usual suspects of English cinema conveyed all the bitchiness and ideas of grandeur of a typical am dram society. I particularly liked the reference to the fact that they all acted for no money or fame and held down daytime jobs. I am afraid that Burt's delivery of Lear left a lot to be desired and as my husband is about to direct King Lear we had to laugh as Imelda Staunton( good as she was) as one of Lear's daughters until I pointed out his actress in the part was about the same age. A problem that occurs in most am drams is that the people in them are too old for the parts. Imelda was very funny and Derek Jacobi sending himself up was a scream too. Not a great film but an amusing, small English film and much better than a lot of other small English films I have seen