Thanks for the memories!

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

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.

Peckinpah's swansong 'The Osterman Weekend' at first appears as a political thriller but gradually as the story gets more complex, the layers unfold as the surprise is gradually revealed. It may have a dated look mostly because of the technical props that are obsolete today. But, the main theme of the story is ahead of its time.The movie is shot in a voyeuristic fashion. The viewer is given intimate glimpses into the lives of the characters, even during their private moments such as when they're having sex. At the same time, the editing could have been tighter had it not focused a little too much on the sex and drugs themes. Peckinpah does an excellent job in building tension and catching the viewer by surprise. The film gets a tad confusing but once the major twist is revealed, it's easy to get back on track.All the actors, John Hurt, Rutger Hauer, Dennis Hopper, Helen Shaver, Cassie Yates and Chris Sarandon do a good job. Craig T. Nelson is adequate. His performance in the latter half suffers due to the poor lines he's given to deliver. Lalo Schifrin's score works. The action sequences may not look as sophisticated as they do in today's spy-thrillers but they're quite fun to watch.Even though 'The Osterman Weekend' is confusing at times, it does work as a suspense thriller. It has its flaws but in my opinion, it is not half as bad as many have made it out to be.

Sam Peckinpah's final film is a very funny, always intriguing and top-notch cast espionage-thriller. The plot is confusing right from the outset, its difficult to understand all the 'inside'-information we're getting early on, for so becoming immediately involved with the characters - I don't know why I should care for these people when I don't know what they're doing or saying. Much of this problem comes from the dialog, which seemingly is pulled right out of the Ludlum-novel and is one-upped into quasi-intelligence, but it's also the chopped editing (common knowledge for any Peckinpah fan) that the director used so effectively earlier, which sadly fails here. The acting chops are somewhat outlandish, especially the occasionally ridiculous John Hurt and the seemingly careless Dennis Hopper, and from time to another you don't know which one to take seriously or not. The action scenes are typically Peckinpah aesthetic, though some of the scenes where they're inquired are either completely illogical or plain phony. It may not be the best of directing swan-songs in film history, but it's nevertheless highly enjoyable and fun to watch.

"The Osterman Weekend" emits the feeling of a last gasp. What was an author's second novel later took this form of a director's last film. Sam Peckinpah was a good choice for directing, with film's like "The Wild Bunch" and "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid" under his belt, Peckinpah wouldn't hesitate to show the grim world of betrayal and manipulation that Robert Ludlum showed through virtually everyone of his books. With spy films like the James Bond franchise being the most popular, this was the lesser seem side of that coin - the side that is less escapist adventure storytelling for boys.However, the problems that Sam Peckinpah was going through at his last stages have noticeably affected the film. The intricate plot is there, but feels stitched together in parts, though that may very well be due the studio demanding re-editing work. The action is at times sloppy with very little of the mesmerizing details of Peckinpah's previous action sequences; a car crash even contains multiple repeats of the same angle and makes some disastrous continuity. The other action scenes are a notch or two better, but still far from what they could have been.But, at least the plot and its many deceptions keep you guessing, right to the last shot. --- 6/10BsCDb Classification: 13+ --- violence, sexual content