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      The Amateur

      R 1982 1 hr. 52 min. Mystery & Thriller List
      Reviews 64% 100+ Ratings Audience Score When the wife of CIA agent Charles Heller (John Savage) is killed by a group of terrorists in Munich, Germany, he decides to hunt down the escaped killers. However, he is only a code specialist without combat expertise, and he does not have agency permission. Using classified information, Heller blackmails the CIA into training him and sending him into Czechoslovakia, where the killers are currently located. Once he arrives, Heller discovers that he may be their target after all. Read More Read Less

      Audience Reviews

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      dave j Tuesday, February 26, 2013 (1981) The Amateur THRILLER Based on a novel written by Robert Littell which starts out with a shocking beginning where some Chzech terrorists take control over a CIA office located in Germany for the purpose of an exchange of their lives for a release of one of their own, otherwise if their demands are not met within 1 hour then they will kill one hostage every 15 minutes. The higher ups think the terrorists are bluffing so they pick out a name at random out of a bunch of American passports and it happends to be this guys girlfriend, and she gets shot right on the head on front of tv stations and the German police authorities. The boyfriend who also happends to work for the CIA as well as a technition extracts revenge since the American gov't doesn't want to get involved about going for their capture. So decides to be a radical by becoming a vigilante by devising a plan to blackmail for the information for their whereabouts to do just that, but at the same time want to be professionally trained to do the job himself- hence the title "The Amateur" who is the star. Extremely dull thriller since the type casting is way off base but I manage to go through it by using the fast forward button on my remote control since if I were to sit through it- it would've bored me to hell. It is happens to be actionless using suspense instead which the fast forward button could handle as well. I agree with film critic Leonard Maltin review on the movie that the actors are type casted and so forth and that the acting is mediocre at best but it's worth watching if you want to see something that has never been done before. 2.5 out of 4 stars Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Considering the fact that I never heard of this movie I chose to give it a shot on cable today. I did'nt think it was any good. It was too boring, slow and uninteresting. I turned it off part way into it. It was'nt worth it at all. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 02/21/23 Full Review Audience Member Ordinary man blackmails CIA to send him to Czecheslovakia to avenge terrorists who executed his girlfriend, only to be targeted by CIA after crossing enemy lines. Top notch Canadian cinema. Nominated for 10 Genie Awards, winning zero. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/24/23 Full Review Audience Member Very good espionage film. Intelligent and has an honest feel throughout. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review Audience Member I enjoyed the plot and the film had some interesting twists and turns but an incredibly lazy ending brought the whole film down several notches. Too bad... Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Audience Member :fresh: :fresh: :fresh: :fresh: :fresh: [font=Comic Sans MS][size=3]A petty cool revenge flick, with John Savage.[/size][/font] Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/21/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Critics Reviews

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      Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times After earning our attention with its understated, powerful opening, the movie develops into a routine, even laughable, spy thriller. Rated: 2/4 May 8, 2019 Full Review Eddie Harrison film-authority.com ...does a professional wet job that should have made more of a cultural imprint than it did.... Rated: 3/5 Jul 22, 2021 Full Review Larry Vitacco Philadelphia Gay News A slick and suspenseful espionage thriller. Rated: 3/4 May 27, 2020 Full Review Diego Galán El Pais (Spain) The Amateur has an effective narrative that is superior to other similar movies. [Full Review in Spanish] Aug 22, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis When the wife of CIA agent Charles Heller (John Savage) is killed by a group of terrorists in Munich, Germany, he decides to hunt down the escaped killers. However, he is only a code specialist without combat expertise, and he does not have agency permission. Using classified information, Heller blackmails the CIA into training him and sending him into Czechoslovakia, where the killers are currently located. Once he arrives, Heller discovers that he may be their target after all.
      Director
      Charles Jarrott
      Executive Producer
      Mario Kassar, Andrew G. Vajna
      Screenwriter
      Diana Maddox, Robert Littell
      Production Co
      Balkan Productions, Tiberius Film Productions
      Rating
      R
      Genre
      Mystery & Thriller
      Original Language
      English