Osterman Weekend

Fine final thriller from Peckinpah 3 1/2 stars
Although it starts off a bit shakey, "The Osterman Weekend" regains its balance and becomes a suspenseful thriller worth watching. While it isn't Peckinpah's best film, it has many of the best qualities that made "The Wild Bunch", "Straw Dogs" and other thrillers interesting and an example of vital cinema.

Rutger Hauer plays John Tanner a TV reporter devoted to uncovering the truth about our government's covert operations, illegal dealings, etc. When a CIA operative Lawrence Fassett(John Hurt)comes to him with the story of a career there's a catch--it involves Tanner's friends. Fassett reveals that Tanner's three best friends Osterman (Craig T. Nelson), Tremayne (Dennis Hopper) and Cardone (Chris Sarandon)are all three Soviet spies. Fassett proposes that Tanner can break an incredible story if he'll cooperate in trying to turn one or all of the spies over a weekend at Tanner's house. Tension builds as the three spies suspect that Tanner knows that they're agents for the...

Swan song for Peckinpah
Although at times confusing (unless one is really looking hard), THE OSTERMAN WEEKEND is a pretty good final film for one of the cinema's most controversial directors, Sam Peckinpah. It is his statement on the Cold War, courtesy of Robert Ludlum's 1972 novel, and has many of those well-staged action sequences that make later imitators like Quentin Tarantino and John Woo look like rank amateurs.

Rutger Hauer stars as a controversial L.A. talk show host with a penchant for tearing down government officials for their hackneyed explanations of U.S. policy towards the Soviets. He is anticipating the arrival of three old college friends (Craig T. Nelson, Chris Sarandon, Dennis Hopper) and Sarandon's and Hopper's wives (Cassie Yates, Helen Shaver) for an annual get-together.

But then, a CIA operative (John Hurt) throws a monkey wrench into things when he presents evidence that seems to indicate that Hauer's friends are working for the heathen Soviets in an attempt to sabotage America's...

Patriot or Useful Idiot?
Sam Peckinpah ("The Getaway") delivers his usual blend of action and paranoia in this 1983 sleeper, which stars the underrated Rutger Hauer as a investigative TV reporter out of the Mike Wallace mold, and John Hurt as the CIA operative. Burt Lancaster as the national security chief reprises his role as an overzealous cold warrior type (like he played in "Seven Days in May"). The plot takes off when Lancaster, the frequent target of Hauer's hit pieces for his civil liberties violations, turns Hauer over to Hurt, who reveals that Hauer's business partners (Craig Nelson, cast against his "Coach" type as a ruthless businessman, and the ever-edgy Dennis Hopper) are traitorous subversives selling government secrets to the communists.

Soon the plot takes several twists and turns and everyone is mice trapped in a maze with the cat having just been dropped in. "The Osterman Weekend" starts off as a traditional espionage thriller as a red herring just to fool you, but becomes a paranoid...

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