To me, this movie is perfection.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

For the first 30 minutes or so, "The Osterman Weekend" is a talky affair that looks and sounds almost like a TV movie, which made me wonder what had happened to the famous director Sam Peckinpah. Then a GREAT car chase sequence occurs, and the old Peckinpah (complete with trademark ritualistic slow motion) is back. From that point on, the action moves inside Rutger Hauer's house, and the film turns into a claustrophobic, psychological cat-and-mouse game. In the last 15 minutes, there is an outbreak of action directed with characteristic Peckinpah flair, but there are also more plot twists than you can shake a stick at, not all of them plausible. The ultimate result is a film both compelling and muddled. One thing you can not deny is the terrific cast - if you can buy Craig T. Nelson as a martial arts master! **1/2 out of 4.

The Osterman Weekend was Sam Peckinpah's farewell film and as a final fadeout doesn't measure up to Ride The High Country, The Wild Bunch or Junior Bonner. But it seems to have its supporters.A Robert Ludlum spy novel is something I would think would appeal to a Sam Peckinpah as his kind of screen material. But he did adapt it as best he could to his own style.John Hurt is quite the puppetmaster here and he's planning some big time revenge for the CIA killing his wife whom they suspected of being a Soviet agent. None other than Burt Lancaster who as the head of the Central Intelligence Agency takes out of mothballs his characterization of James Mattoon Scott the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from Seven Days In May.But part of that scheme is to use sensationalist TV newscaster Rutger Hauer to convince three friends of his and their wives to spend a weekend with him. The six are Craig T. Nelson, Chris Sarandon, and Dennis Hopper and wives Helen Shaver, Cassie Yates, and Meg Foster. It all starts out nice, but pretty soon the house which has every room bugged becomes a killing ground soon enough.I don't want to go into more detail as this does take quite a turn and neither Hurt or Lancaster have clean hands. And the people spending time on that Osterman weekend aren't Boy and Girl Scouts.Sam Peckinpah gets a pair of violence ballets into the film, first with a fight sequence between Hauer and Nelson and later a long involved sequence in a swimming pool where Hauer and Nelson are held prisoner there by machine gun fire until a most interesting rescue.I'm willing to bet that Ludlam's original story was far more cerebral than what Peckinpah gives us. Still for admirers of this director this should satisfy them.

The poster reads; "What would you do if a total stranger proved to you that your three closest friends were Soviet agents?" Then you see that this is based on a Robert Ludlum bestseller. Then you see a to-die-for cast and the director of all this is Sam Peckinpah. Still, "The Osterman Weekend" doesn't gel all that well.It's very confusing all the way. Stylistically, this flick is all over the place, with some trademark Peckinpah visuals that really feel out of place. The characters are total bores, each and every one and when the audience doesn't care for them it's hard to empathize with their plight.The actors are pretty solid though. John Hurt is appropriately crazy as the villain, Craig T. Nelson pretty effective as the no-nonsense leader of the pack (Osterman himself) and Helen Shaver is good as a drug addicted nymph. Others are OK but sadly Hauer is miscast as the hero, he's simply so much better at playing villains.Ironcially, the story behind "The Osterman Weekend" is a lot more interesting than the film itself. This was Peckinpah's last feature and he went through a lot to finish it, only to have his version somewhat altered by studio execs. Peckinpah's version can be seen by way of a horrible VHS transfered copy but the difference isn't all that huge.Still, there's something about the flick that begs repeat viewings. Everyone has a few guilty favorites and "The Osterman Weekend" is one of mine. There's something about the isolated setting, the cat and mouse game (although not played to it's full potential) between Hauer and Hurt and the pool scene is just terrific. Also, the scene where Hurt pretends to be a weatherman is simply hilarious.Plus the sight of Meg Foster with that crossbow is the coolest poster I've ever seen.

The Robert Ludlum book of the same name is excellent, very tense and very well written. I waited ages for this film to come along at the right price (25p off ebay, ha ha), but how disappointed I was when I finally saw it. Maybe it wouldn't be a bad film if it wasn't based on a book, but it is, and a great book at that. Therefore, I have to compare the film with the original as the two can't be separated. Relative to the book, the film is, frankly, rubbish I'm sorry to say. I had such high expectations, but the film bore such little resemblance to the book that had I not known it was called "The Osterman Weekend", I would never have guessed that it was based on the book of the same name.I gave this film 5/10 simply because I made it through to the end (and Rutger Hauer and John Hurt have done some great stuff), but it was more out of morbid curiosity as to how much more they could butcher the book than for any entertainment value. This was a film that was a product of its time (replete with cheesy music and bad acting) and it hasn't aged well. I'm glad I bought it for 25p because any more and I would've considered it a waste of money.If it comes up on TV and you have 90 minutes burning a hole in your life, watch it - it isn't dreadful, but it's certainly not great. If you've read the book and are hoping to see it brought to life, or think that you're about to watch another Sam Peckinpah classic, give it a miss, it really isn't worth it.