Amateur (1994)

Sadly Over-hyped

Good concept, poorly executed.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Just stumbled across this movie on STARZ CINEMA. Never hear of it, the director (who apparently has a following) or most of the actors. But I remembered Isabelle Huppert from "Bedroom Window" years ago, and she was worth a look.What a piece of work! The most inspired, goofy film noir dialogue you will ever hear spoken, by deadpanned actors that somehow still grow on you. The missing person police officer who is heartbroken with every case. The virgin nymphomaniac, when asked how that combination can exist, says "I'm Choosy!" Since she's an ex-nun, I suppose that's true. The former porn star (what a sultry look!!) who wants to become a "mover and a shaker". Priceless stuff. This is also a very gentle R, with almost no profanity or nudity, in its sex crazed, porn sort of way.Many other IMDb people have given plot points, and either love or hate the presentation, but anyone who was not flat out hysterical when the "hitman" got shot, should stick to TV sitcoms. It was a pure Monty Python worthy moment!!

Special brand of Hartly with a nymphomaniac ex-nun, (who hasn't had sex yet!), looking for that special mission from God. Along comes Thomas, (Donovan, the only actor who knows how to fit perfectly into Hartly's strange but exciting style), a man with amnesia, in search of himself. To stir the pot we have Sofia, (the stunning Elina), who makes up the web that draws the film into a set of genres dealing with corporate espionage, sexual tension, demented gangsters, cops on the hunt and everything quiet peculiar!

This is an interesting movie but not especially interesting. It is a little unusual. However it does get slow in the last half and then eventually dies an undesirable death. It is worth watching but not for the ending.However I think they tried to put too much into Isabelle's character. She did not need to have been a nun and a nymphomaniac. And in fact it is unclear to me whether she was a nymphomaniac; I think you will need to decide for yourself.

I kept waiting for this movie to make sense at some point, and it never happened. I looked at the IMDB rating hoping to get some kind of an idea how many people saw the film and how many people gave it a rating higher than 7. Boy was I disapointed. What a waste of celluloid!