The Amateur
The Amateur
R | 12 February 1982 (USA)
The Amateur Trailers

A researcher for the CIA who convinces his superiors to send him to the eastern bloc in order to avenge the murder of his wife by enemy agents discovers a web of deception underneath his wife's death.

Reviews
Scanialara You won't be disappointed!
Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.
Ketrivie It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.
Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
darbski I know that a lot of the reviews are not complementary. The protagonist isn't a major star, he's not strikingly handsome, not well known, even in supporting roles. I believe that these are the main reasons the movie didn't get great credit. John Savage is a very good actor, but not spectacular; he's a low-key cameo and supporting type. However, in this movie, and in another ("Inside Moves"), he is outstanding. Why? For the reasons I just gave.He is everyman, stuck in a place where he has to choose to do what he thinks is right. And those choices are very difficult. Savage plays this type to perfection. Taking what is dished out, and trying to struggle through. The settings in this show are really cool; "Third Man" type towns and neighborhoods where the genre thrives. The parts are developed to the necessary point, and the action is slow (if you're looking for Chuck Norris stuff, don't bother), but steady, with the hits spiking the inexorable pressure of the plot.I know I haven't told you very much about the content, save the basic design, but, see it for yourself, and decide how you'd feel, and what you'd do. Then put yourself in those really cool spy-ish settings and see what you think for yourself.
Benoit Vanhees A leftist terror group erupts into the US Consulate in München, and takes a number of hostages, including Americans. The hardboiled team demands the immediate release of a number of fellow terrorist, otherwise the US hostages will be shot dead at a rate of one per hour. A "post Münich '72" discussion takes place between German and US spokesmen to determine what to do. As the terrorists' demands aren't met within the imposed deadline, one of the hostages gets executed in cold blood. The young woman who got shot dead was the girlfriend of a CIA computer specialist. But at the same time -strange coincidence- , the killer too is working for the CIA, and has infiltrated the terrorist cell. The boyfriend of the executed girl -although an "egghead" or CIA bureaucrat- wants to avenge her death by killing systematically all the members of the cell. He learns that they are hiding in Easter Europe. As the CIA doesn't seem to be inclined to help him, he uses some arm twisting techniques to force the Director of Central Intelligence to change his stance...The film certainly isn't bad, but at the same time I couldn't call it fantastic either. Therefor, the story is built on just too much coincidences and unlikely events. Also, the idea of the non-experienced CIA man managing to do unlikely things, exactly because he's no trained and therefor predictable field agent has been treated in a much more convincing way in "Three Days of the Condor".Christopher Plummer was doing a relatively nice job as Professor Lakos, but on the whole, I found the actors too neither sensational, neither incredibly bad. Same thing for the OST. That is -to me at least- the weak point of the movie: it is in almost all its aspects "just average", nothing more, nothing less.The strongest side of the movie is the excellent choice of locations. The chosen Austrian landscapes, and a few Skoda's here and really give the impression the movie has been shot somewhere in Eastern Europe.
syncomm It requires a complete suspension of disbelief for the viewer to engage in the baffling circus of events that make up the groaning plot of this film. Savage is a CIA cryptanalyst who upon the murder of his girlfriend in Munich decides to blackmail his employer into allowing him to carry out a reckless revenge plot in Czechoslovakia with a .45 and some plastic explosives. The government, who refuses to negotiate with the terrorists for his girlfriend's life at the beginning of the film, rolls over with hardly a grumble to Savage's demands and simply trains him for his "mission." Once he has received a good day or two of training, he eloquently tells them he is done -- he "would flunk out anyway" by golly. So without hesitation they send him into the abyss, because... well he told 'em to. Mr. Bean, or Inspector Clueso, would have been less obtrusive than the snaggly brown toothed "amateur" spy carrying out this spoiled-boy spree of hapless chaos. He spends nearly every scene (literally) running through the streets of eastern Europe and -shouting- corny English expressions to his equally incompetent female associate. He couldn't stand out more if he had CIA written in red paint on his face. You will be hard pressed to remain awake for the action, but that is okay because there simply isn't much of it to be had. What started as an interesting premise, logic aside, turns into a dreary romp that gets more boring with each turn. If you survive to the end you will be equally baffled by the inept and abrupt conclusion. I'm certain Lindsy Lohan has written better scripts than this on her blackberry after imbibing several bottles of raspberry Vodka. Don't waste your time.
kc7tzp This movie has been and will remain a favorite for many years to come. I loved how the plot leads you to the correct conclusion with all the subtle hints dropped throughout the movie, and was pleased by the "justice was served" ending. As he seeks the answers to why the CIA doesn't follow up on the killing, it is interesting to note that even though they gave him training and supplied him with the weaponry, he was a target, just the same.As for the final outcome and the ending, it was interesting to find out just exactly who knew what about the whole affair. All in all, it was a really entertaining movie that I do and will recommend everyone seeing, being sure it will stir up the brain's capabilities to understand the subtle nuances in life.