THE AMATEUR (1981)

THE AMATEUR (1981)

Rated R - Rottentomatoes - no freshness score (40% popcornmeter), IMBD rating - 5.9/10

Synopsis:

Charles Heller, a top CIA computer expert and cryptographer, is devastated when his fiancee is taken hostage and then executed during a terrorist attack.  When he approaches his superiors at the CIA, they express their condolences, but they refuse to take the action necessary to track down and kill those responsible.  Rather than succumb to the effects of this tragic loss, Heller takes matters into his own hands - he uses top-secret information to blackmail his superiors into training him so he can go after the terrorists himself.

Thoughts:

The R-rating.

By today's standards, this would probably earn a PG-13 rating.  The R-rating was almost certainly assigned because an unconscious woman was shown topless while medical professionals attempted to resuscitate her.  There were also multiple violent scenes in which the blood of victims was shown.  Language, drug use, etc., were mild.

The movie.

I first saw The Amateur on TV in the mid-1980s, and was able to make a VHS recording of it.  I don't remember anything about it's theatrical release, and, based on the limited number of reviews (only 5) indicated by Rotten Tomatoes, it didn't make much of a splash when it came out.  It was produced and filmed in Canada, and stars John Savage, Christopher Plummer and Marthe Keller in the lead roles.

The Amateur is a cold-war era film, when entities behind the Iron Curtain were the main sponsors of terror, and east-west tensions (at least as depicted in this movie) were a shoot-first-ask-questions-later approach to international relations.  

I acquired a DVD copy of this movie recently, and watched it last night for the first time in a long, long time.

I enjoyed the premise, and the acting and story were interesting, though not particularly fresh.  A few unexpected twists added to the experience.  The technology shown in the movie was cutting edge in the 1980s, but is woefully out of date today.  And, I have to wonder about the handgun provided to Heller by the CIA - that thing was HUGE!  

As of this writing, The Amateur (1981) is not available on any streaming platform, and physical copies of this movie are difficult to find.

If it were up to me, given its vintage, etc., I would assign it 65-70% fresh on the Rottentomatoes scale.

If you like spy thrillers, I recommend giving this a look when you get the chance.