Pssst, want to check out Amateur in our new look?
Information
- Year
- 1994
- Runtime
- 105 min.
- Director
- Hal Hartley
- Genres
- Crime, Drama, Comedy
- Rating *
- 7.0
- Votes *
- 4,392
- Checks
- 420
- Favs
- 25
- Dislikes
- 7
- Favs/checks
- 6.0% (1:17)
- Favs/dislikes
- 4:1
Top comments
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Siskoid
Hal Hartley is so deadpan in Amateur, I'm sure will come out of the experience thinking it was meant seriously and is therefore the worst noir they've ever seen. Isabelle Huppert stars as an ex-nun trying her hand at pornographic writing and who comes upon an amnesiac man with a sordid, but unknown past. Enter his abused wife - a porno actress - and criminals who want them all dead, and you've got the makings of a sexy 90s thriller. Except there are many moments that approach parody without ever winking at the audience in that comedy way, that the thriller elements are undermined. And that's not a bad thing. We have a LOT of neo-noir from this era, but we only have ONE Amateur. In the right frame of mind, this ludicrous concoction - the assassin double act, Huppert with a drill, the guy who gets shot repeatedly, the compassionate cop - is quite amusing (and rewatchable). There's something very theatrical in the way Hartley's characters speak - theater acting rather than film acting - but in the context of a send-up, it seems to work somehow. 7 months 1 week ago -
