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The Osterman Weekend

Play trailer Poster for The Osterman Weekend R 1983 1h 43m Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
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45% Tomatometer 20 Reviews 38% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
An outspoken television personality, John Tanner (Rutger Hauer) has an annual tradition of going away with three college buddies. However, when Tanner is informed that these friends -- Bernard Osterman (Craig T. Nelson), Richard Tremayne (Dennis Hopper) and Joseph Cardone (Chris Sarandon) -- are part of a Soviet spy network, it adds considerable conflict to their getaway, a tension heightened by an enigmatic spy named Lawrence Fassett (John Hurt), who has unclear motives.

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The Osterman Weekend

Critics Reviews

View All (20) Critics Reviews
Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times I don't demand that all movies make sense. I sometimes enjoy movies that make no sense whatsoever, if that's their intention. But a thriller is supposed to hold together in some sort of logical way, isn't it? Rated: 1/4 Oct 23, 2004 Full Review Vincent Canby New York Times Some individual sequences -- including a car chase early in the film - have the lunatic humor that might have made the rest of the film bearable, though probably nothing would justify the film's final blood bath. Rated: 2/5 May 20, 2003 Full Review Dave Kehr Chicago Reader The structure is a mess (the film was recut against Peckinpah's wishes), which ultimately makes it difficult to tell whether its oddly compelling qualities are the result of a coherent artistic strategy or the cynical carelessness of a director sidelined. Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Eddie Harrison film-authority.com dark political cynicism that seems miles ahead of its time Rated: 5/5 Jan 11, 2024 Full Review Jason Shawhan Nashville Scene Sam Peckinpah crafted his final film from the peaks and valleys of a staggering cocaine habit and a career's worth of paranoia. Sep 10, 2021 Full Review Mike Massie Gone With The Twins An absurdly slow pace and lazy character development make this an overwhelmingly long affair - one too plodding to be spiced up by Peckinpah's use of visual affronts. Rated: 4/10 Sep 6, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (117) audience reviews
Red T What a disappointment given the star power, director and somewhat clever premise. On paper this should have no problem being a solid film but just terrible execution at every turn. The music is so boring, barely used, and uninspired. The acting is just surprisingly ok with no one surprisingly having any chemistry and just blending in, even the villain and Rutger who is sort of the main character. The cinematography isn't good either, the camerawork is basic, the night scenes at the end are so dark you can't see half the screen, none of the sets are memorable, the action scenes are just ok, and worst of all 90% of this movie is just boring exposition that goes no where. The worst part of this is the editing which is just flat out terrible. Even though Sam P. is the godfather of modern slow motion, the slow motion feels completely unneeded when used, this also jumps around CONSTANTLY in the first half with no idea what the main plot really is. This really drags the pacing until the end when the plot twist sort of makes it make sense kind of but it's still not very good. The main story is so hard to keep track of because of how jumpy it is, how much exposition, and really I can't tell for 65% of this film who the main character is or what it was about mainly until the plot twist. And despite all the exposition none of it ever tells us about the characters at all, it's just explaining the plot or pointless lines constantly. This has lots of opportunity for lots of commentary on espionage, paranoia, and trust, and this is one case where I think this should be remade as the idea could work. The main problem here is Sam P.'s declining heath that hampered everything. As it is this is a boring, muddled mess that I can't really recommend to anyone, even the most die hard Sam P. fans should stay away from this as this is a sad shell of his former abilities. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 05/09/23 Full Review Audience Member Great Cast, a little weird, but still I couldn't look away Rated 3 out of 5 stars 08/24/21 Full Review kevin c Rutger Hauer stars as a man recruited by the government to help them as they claim his friends are spies.  Culminating over a yearly weekend with his friends he must determine the truth. 
Directed by Sam Peckinpah, this is a pretty great paranoid spy movie. Always a great revisit. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Quality of a sunday afternoon tv-movie. None of the actors seems to be really "in" it. Storyline makes sense... if you are on crack cocaine. Edited to shreds by the studio after sidelining Pekinpah. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/15/23 Full Review Audience Member For me, this is another case of seeing the movie in parts over the years and then finally deciding to see it in its entirety once and for all. The only positive thing i can say about this film adaptation of the late Robert Ludlum's novel of the same title is the terrific cast. The adaptation retains the basic story of Ludlum's novel, John Tanner is told by the CIA that one or all of the friends he invited to spend the weekend at his home may be Soviet spies, but that is pretty much it. The scenes of the weekend gathering are poorly written and frankly makes no sense. The late Sam Peckinpah, in his final film, seemed more interested to have excuses to have the female cast members appear naked on screen. There are holes in this story a locomotive can fit through. My advice is to just read Robert Ludlum's novel and not waste your time with this stupid and dull movie. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Audience Member One of the very few films that is superior to the original novel in my opinion. The cast is quite strong, and the plot keeps you in suspense throughout. Lancaster is perfect in playing the CIA chief, as Hauer and Hurt also deliver strong performances. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/15/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Osterman Weekend

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis An outspoken television personality, John Tanner (Rutger Hauer) has an annual tradition of going away with three college buddies. However, when Tanner is informed that these friends -- Bernard Osterman (Craig T. Nelson), Richard Tremayne (Dennis Hopper) and Joseph Cardone (Chris Sarandon) -- are part of a Soviet spy network, it adds considerable conflict to their getaway, a tension heightened by an enigmatic spy named Lawrence Fassett (John Hurt), who has unclear motives.
Director
Sam Peckinpah
Screenwriter
Alan Sharp
Production Co
Davis-Panzer Productions
Rating
R
Genre
Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 2, 2017
Runtime
1h 43m
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