The Osterman Weekend (1983) **1/2
It's a shame that Sam Peckinpah's final film is also his weakest. Despite having an excellent cast and director at its helm, The Osterman Weekend (1983) is an uneven, slipshod movie, due to a number of factors—chiefly Peckinpah's failing health and disinterest in Robert Ludlum's source novel and his refusal to re-edit the film after poor test screenings, causing the producers to fire Peckinpah and re-edit the film themselves.
Additionally, though I love Lalo Schifrin, his score doesn't fit the film at all—the cheesy, sax-heavy queues sound like muzak. For an espionage film, Osterman is pedestrian, lacks suspense, and even Peckinpah's trademark slo-mo shots can't make the action scenes more exciting. John Hurt's devious spy is the highlight of the film, but it's hard to care what happens to the majority of the remainder of the mostly unsavory characters.
I think a remake is in some form of pre-production and I would actually welcome a new adaptation of the material, where the themes of surveillance and media manipulation could be better explored.
You can find my Sam Peckinpah Feature Films Ranked list here.
Additionally, though I love Lalo Schifrin, his score doesn't fit the film at all—the cheesy, sax-heavy queues sound like muzak. For an espionage film, Osterman is pedestrian, lacks suspense, and even Peckinpah's trademark slo-mo shots can't make the action scenes more exciting. John Hurt's devious spy is the highlight of the film, but it's hard to care what happens to the majority of the remainder of the mostly unsavory characters.
I think a remake is in some form of pre-production and I would actually welcome a new adaptation of the material, where the themes of surveillance and media manipulation could be better explored.
You can find my Sam Peckinpah Feature Films Ranked list here.
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