Little Nikita

Despite a screenplay by the esteemed Bo Goldman (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Scent of a Woman), this lacklustre espionage thriller is bogged down with the sort of clichés you'd expect from the height of the Cold War. It's none too credible either, with River Phoenix as a typical American teen who discovers that his parents are in fact dormant Soviet spies. Phoenix and Poitier (as the FBI man who sets him straight) invest the material with more emotional authenticity than you'd think possible, but it's an uphill struggle.