Bullet Points: The Osterman Weekend
Director Sam Peckinpah had a legendary career before he started work on The Osterman Weekend. In fact, many in the industry think that the final few years of Peckinpah’s life were spent making films that didn’t quite live up to his earlier successes. For a man who directed such films as The Wild Bunch, Straw Dogs, and Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, Peckinpah most definitely ended his career on a sour note with Convoy and The Osterman Weekend. It also must be said that Sam’s early career was so amazing that even decent to good films like the one I’m about to talk about pales in comparison to his other work.
Synopsis: The host of an investigative new show is convinced by a CIA agent that his oldest friends are secretly working with the Soviet Union. Their potential threat to the national security becomes a threat to the life of Osterman and his family as the group of men meet at a secluded getaway for the weekend.
- An Incredible Cast: The first thing about TOW that struck me was just how amazing the lead characters are. John Hurt, Rutger Hauer, Craig T. Nelson, Dennis Hopper, Chris Sarandon, and Meg Foster carry the heavy load in this film and there aren’t many movies from the early 80’s with as much tension between the characters as there is in this one. It’s frightening how bad Dennis Hopper looks here. I think he looks better in films filmed in the mid 90’s compared to his state in TOW.
- Preach Brother: The Osterman Weekend is what I would consider an action/thriller. Most of the film is spent trying to decide exactly who we should trust. My favorite line perfectly sums up the type of movie it is; “The truth is a lie that hasn’t been found out.”
- Coach is a Badass: Craig T. Nelson gets a brief opportunity at the beginning of the film to show off some of his karate skills. It’s important to recognize that he’s not one to mess with because later in the film Coach opens up several cans of whoop ass.
- Bullitt it is not: At some point, early in the film, we get a taste of a little action before probably 40 minutes of character development and seeing Helen Shaver’s tits. It’s a car chase that should have been a lot better. The way it’s shot and edited made me cringe at times. The use of slow motion feels weird during a car chase. I thought the whole point was for everything to look fast and not for the speeding vehicles to be slowed down to a crawl.
- The Final Act: As the film moves along you’ll likely find yourself questioning why exactly it ended up on our illustrious site. We do stick to the action genre (with the occasional horror film thrown in by me) and The Osterman Weekend is very light on action for the first two-thirds of its runtime. All of that changes when the shit hits the fan in the secluded cabin in the woods. Craig T. Nelson turns into Sonny Chiba, karate chopping dudes in the throat and making CIA agents look like crosswalk guards.
The Verdict: John Hurt plays the exact character that John Hurt was born to play and Rutger Hauer is his usual amazing self. Hauer deserves a hell of a lot more credit than he gets for making even the shittiest movies into something watchable. Is The Osterman Weekend shitty? No. It’s no masterpiece but it’s hardly a waste of time. If you’re into thinking movies starring really good actors with small doses of action sprinkled in then you’ll be in your element with The Osterman Weekend.
