Parker Posey Movie:

		List Price: $96.99		Label: Columbia/Tri-Star Salesrank: 18385 Released: December 5, 1995
		Used Price: $3.95
		MPAA Rating: R (Restricted) Media: VHS Tape

Editorial Review:
Filmmaker Hal Hartley is something of an acquired taste. But if you can get on his oddball, deadpan wavelength, you can't help but enjoy his films--and this is one of his best. Isabelle Huppert plays a former nun who now works as a pornographer. She connects with Martin Donovan, playing a fellow who's lost his memory, but whose past may contain particularly nasty stuff. As they look for a way to get away from that past (which includes a couple of hit men who look like stockbrokers), the two discuss the meaning of their lives in hilariously vague ways. Hartley's dialogue is tart and concise, filled with acidic but low-key humor. And Donovan, who also starred in the director's equally good Trust, has just the right downbeat affect to give the film an unusual spin. --Marshall Fine

Amateur [VHS] Reviews:
A Hal Hartley classic
2009-04-12 - I am getting hooked on the Hal Hartley films and although I haven't seen them all I am such a fan that I would say any of his movies from the 80s and 90s I'd consider classic. Anyway; I watched the movie and with Hal Hartley you get his typical offbeat deadpan comedy style. The movie is clever; well-written; funny and another great Hal Hartley film that I've seen. I currently own most of his films on DVD and just got a couple more to get. If you are familar with and have enjoyed other Hal Hartley films then please don't miss this one. The only problem I have with this and other films of Hal Hartley is too many have gone out of print and you have to buy used. Also Flirt and Trust (two other of his films worth checking out) have not yet seen a North American DVD release. Also I picked up and have the poster of Amateur.

HAL'S NO AMATEUR1
2007-07-09 - THIS FILM IS QUIRKY GREAT!!!!
ONE OF MR.HARTLEY'S BEST!!!!
ISABELLE & MARTIN... WHAT A GREAT PAIR!

I really wanted to like this more...
2007-03-08 - The subject matter alone drew me to this movie. Not knowing the history of the director, Hal Hartley, but knowing of his followers, I decided to check it out. In the end, I was a little disappointed. I'll talk more of this later.
The story evolves around a nun who leaves the convent because she believes that she is a nymphomaniac. But yet, she's never had sex. She decides to start writing pornographic stories for a nudie magazine to vent her sexual frustration. Soon, she meets an injured man who has amnesia. Little does the nun know, but this man has ties to the porn industry. She has a spiritual revelation and decides to help this man find out who he is. This leads them both into trouble with hired assassins and crazed accountants. A wild story indeed.
The problem I had with the film was the acting. It seemed as if the characters were just performing their lines and waiting for the director to yell, "CUT". Some scenes would get you deeply interested with the bizarre characters and strange situations. Then, the acting would just blow it.
All in all, it's not a bad film. It tries hard to be like a "Blue Velvet" era David Lynch, but falls terribly short with the lack of any visual flair. I would recommend seeing the film, but watch a friend's copy before you decide to buy.

The Hartley Factor
2005-04-13 - Typically, Hartley's films are not for everyone (some might argue they're not for anyone). Still, if you've got the patience, you familiarize yourself with the style of writing, pacing and acting, you'll be rewarded. Or you could just be like me and instantly devour everything Hartley writes, shoots and films with an insatiable appetite. Whatever works for you.

This film, albeit about a ex-nun-cum-pornographer, may possess the most mainstream "feel" of any Hartley film I can think of. A first rate cast has been assembled and, without giving away anything, the story has a genuine feel of propelling itself forward in "pseudo-Hollywood" style. But it ain't Hollywood.

Living screen legend Isabelle Huppert stars as Isabelle, the fallen nun writing porno stories to pay for her humble existence while waiting reluctantly (and half awake) for some sort of sign of divine inspiration. Along for the ride is a young Euro porn star, a man suffering from amnesia who wakes up all bloodied up in an alley, a young corporate pirate on the run from the Russian mob for some missing computer discs, a young punk hip chickster played by Parker Posey with everything coming to life and death proportions in a convent in the country. You have to see for yourself.

If this sounds up your alley, you will be rewarded with a surprisingly moving film that will have you scratching your head throughout. Beautifully acted, shot with Hal at the helm.

Not quite on the level of Hartley's "Henry Fool" - but few films are.

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Who is "this man?"
2005-01-28 - "Do you know this man?" During the opening scene of AMATEUR "this man" finds himself sprawled out on a cobblestone road outside an apartment building in New York. After recovering, he'll find that his fall from a second floor window has deprived him of his memory, and in an amnesiac haze he'll stumble into a diner where a self-professed nymphomaniac ex-nun (who is still a virgin 15 years removed from the convent) and wanna-be writer of smut, will adopt him as part of what she believes to be a mission from God - her calling. The more she finds out about "this man's" unseemly past the deeper she finds herself immersed in a web of blackmail and violence, with a former porn actress and three accountants, two of which are assassins. Is "this man" the sum of all the facts that we have gleaned from others? Is "this man" really the vicious monster that his ex-wife and former business associate claim? Is "this man" the same man since he has lost his memory? Does anyone really know anyone? In AMATEUR every character is running away - unsuccessfully - from their identities and desperately trying to reinvent themselves and escape from a past that continues to haunt them. An original, quirky film that is difficult to categorize - black comedy? Suspense thriller?