Film

Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in New York, plus articles, trailers and more
 

A Bunch Of Amateurs (2008)

Director: Andy Cadiff

2
Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

A Hollywood has-been slums it in an amateur British production: it’s a description that covers both plot and film in this amiable but scattershot comedy. Burt Reynolds is Jefferson Steel, a pampered action star desperate to make a comeback. He accepts an offer to do Shakespeare in Stratford, little knowing that it’s not upon Avon, but the (fictional) village of Stratford St John in Suffolk.

Naturally, the amateur theatre group is in raptures about the arrival of their LA King Lear, but the man himself is less than enthused about acting alongside pig farmers and staying in a B&B with no ensuite facilities. It’s a reasonably amusing idea, and the script duly has fun with the contrasts between LA-la land and sleepy Suffolk. Steel pops his shoes outside his bedroom door only for a dog to chew on them. Later, the local mobile library is hurriedly transformed into a makeshift trailer. 

Such antics raise a smile, but no belly laughs. Those are reserved soley for Imelda Staunton, who puts in a jolly performance as the owner of the B&B and Steel’s biggest fan. Derek Jacobi also acts a bland Reynolds off the screen in a no-brainer role as a Shakesperian purist. But the story is completely preposterous, as anyone with a passing knowledge of Hollywood and agents (ie 'Entourage' viewers) will know. It’s also hastily edited and, in places, poorly cast. The talents of Staunton, Jacobi and love interest Samantha Bond aside, the title may be more accurate than originally intended.

Author: Anna Smith 2008-12-23 11:22:59

Time Out London Issue 2000/2002, 18-31 December, 2008

  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields


A Bunch Of Amateurs

Cast & crew

Director: Andy Cadiff

Cast: Burt Reynolds, Camilla Arfwedson, Samantha Bond, Derek Jacobi, Imelda Staunton

Duration: 97 mins


Features

Making a name for himself

Making a name for himself

Sin Nombre's Cary Joji Fukunaga learned his lessons well.

To the letter

Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.

Mind over matter

David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.

Fool's gold

Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.

We are the championed

Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."

A history of violence

Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.

True romantic

James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.

Playing in the dark

MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.

Junk bonds

Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.