the fresh films reviews

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The Osterman Weekend (1983)

Director:
Sam Peckinpah
COUNTRY
USA
GENRE
Thriller
NORWEGIAN TITLE
Operasjon Omega
RUNNING TIME
103 minutes
Producer:
Peter S. Davis
William N. Panzer
Screenwriter (based on the novel by Robert Ludlum):
Alan Sharp


Cast includes:

CHARACTER ACTOR/ACTRESS RATING
John Tanner Rutger Hauer ½
Lawrence Fassett John Hurt
Richard Tremayne Dennis Hopper
Bernie Osterman Craig T. Nelson ½
Ali Tanner Meg Foster
Joseph Cardone Chris Sarandon
Virginia Tremayne Helen Shaver
Betty Cardone Cassie Yates
Maxwell Danforth Burt Lancaster ½

 

Review

1984 meets The Big Chill and a spree of machine guns in this, the final film of Sam Peckinpah. Unfortunately, both the logic of the former and the authenticity of the latter is missing in this clumsily shot, horribly edited and most likely amateurishly written spy/thriller flick. It feels dated both stylistically and thematically, even by 1983 standards, and even if there is a clever Robert Ludlum premise lurking underneath and gracing the surface from time to time, such as in a tense and semi-interesting middle part as the old friends (Hauer, Nelson, Hopper and Sarandon) gather at the former man's house. It soon all goes haywire, though, with more twists and turns than logic and relevance. Peckinpah claimed the studio had botched up his cut, and was probably right, but his direction is lacklustre at any rate; the action-sequences being particularly disappointing and, well, slow. Rutger Hauer does quite well in his first American lead, Hopper and Sarandon make little out of the little they have, whereas Craig T. Nelson seems the most inspired. For some reason, though, all these four Berkeley graduates have porn-star-ish wives. No wonder John Hurt found a need to monitor them.

Copyright © 23.9.2014 Fredrik Gunerius Fevang

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