The Osterman Weekend

R

1983

1 hr. 43 min.

Mystery & Thriller

List

45%

20 Reviews

Tomatometer

38%

2,500+ Ratings

Audience Score

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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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

antonis k

A talented cast is wasted on a dull spy thriller with little sense and lot's of boredom. (4/10)

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

Great Cast, a little weird, but still I couldn't look away

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

08/24/21

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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

This movie does not know if it wants to be an espionage thriller or a horror movie. It is abstract and confusion, yet tries to make a point about paranoia in government, an out of control CIA and the citizenry's ambivalence to what is going on. Yet, what ever message there is becomes lost in the audience's collective "WTF is going on?" I wonder if Robert Ludlum's book, upon which this is based, is this confusing.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

01/24/23

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Sam Peckinpah

Director

Rutger Hauer

John Tanner

John Hurt

Lawrence Fassett

Craig T. Nelson

Bernard Osterman

Dennis Hopper

Richard Tremayne

Chris Sarandon

Joseph Cardone

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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

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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

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