Watched this alleged “cold war classic” last night. Admittedly I was rather tired when it came on and it was on rather late, but I thought I had enough cognitive function left to follow it but I guess not.
So, Facet’s wife is murdered, by the KGB? By Burt Lancaster’s men? Huh? And to take his revenge Facet (who is what, FBI? CIA? He’s identified as both) tracks down three men who’re involved in some sort of money laundering scheme and fakes evidence that they’re actually working with the Soviets? Guh? And then sets up with Hauer to “turn” one of them, who isn’t a spy in the first place? Que? And then he kidnaps Rutger Hauer’s family so he can, what? And Lancaster knows that Omega isn’t really a spy ring, how? Then Lancaster goes on Hauer’s show, why? And then Hauer’s on the air, with both Lancaster and Facet, except he’s really not because he shows up at Facet’s little trailer hideout and kills him, all while still broadcasting? The hell?
I’m a big Sam Peckinpah fan, but * The Osterman Weekend * is definitely not one of his better films. This was his last feature film, made after he had already pretty much wrecked his career with booze and coke. Simply put, the plot is tangled and confused and doesn’t really make any sense. I’ve been told that it’s supposed to be some kind of satire about the media, but I’m damned if I can I see it.
Sorry you wasted your time with this. Try * Straw Dogs * or * The Wild Bunch * next time, or maybe * Pat Garret and Billy the Kid * (director’s cut only!) if you’re checking out Peckinpah.
I’d agree; OW pretty much sucks. If it’s all you know of Peckinpah, then you have a treat in store for you as you discover what he was really capable of.
My favorite, bar none, is Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia. It’s in my lifetime top ten.
Well, no, it’s not that I’m interested in exploring the works of Sam Peckinpah (although there’s no reason I wouldn’t). TOW was on, it looked interesting from the description, nothing else that looked better was on.
I also wasn’t looking for a critical discussion of TOW, (although again no reason why I wouldn’t read it). I just want to make some sense out of the plot and figure out what the hell happened?!
And bonus points if anyone can explain why, of all the men in the movie who could’ve gotten naked on-screen, Peckinpah went with John Hurt.
OK, I’m going to bump this once and if there are no further responses I’m going to assume that the plot is so incomprehensible that it’s beyond even the power of the Dope to make clear.
How do Rutger Hauer (who has icy blue eyes) and Meg Foster (who has REALLY icy blue eyes) produce a child with brown eyes? Shouldn’t his eyes by completely white or something? I found this to be by far the movie’s biggest stumbling block.
If you really want to get confused, try reading the book itr’s ostensibly based on.
There’s almost nothing in common whatsoever!
For some reason spy/thriller movies and science fiction movies have a much greater latitude in separation between the plot in the source material and the plot in the movie than you’ll ever see in any other genre, and sometimes it’s a complete disconnect, as is the case here.
Basically, that’s it. The story is confusing and incomprehensible, and it really just isn’t possible to make sense of the film. If I recall Peckinpah’s biography correctly, the script writer more or less admitted he botched the job, and Peckinpah accused the studio of tampering with the film after it left Peckinpah’s hands (a somewhat plausible accusation, given Peckinpah’s history of problems with studios). The result was, well, just a mess. Quit worrying about it, and get some sleep.
Tell me about it. I still remember those dreadful Matt Helm films starring Dean Martin made back in the '60’s. I realize they were supposed to be spoofs, but I still haven’t forgiven them for the way they butchered not just the novels but the whole concept of the Matt Helm series.
And *I, Robot * was a travesty–a travesty, I tells ya!