Year of Release: 1988Country of Origin: USA
Director: Richard Benjamin
Cast: Sidney Poitier, River Phoenix, Richard Jenkins
Plot outline: A teenager discovers his parents are "sleeper" KGB agents who, after being inactive for 20 years, are called upon to run one last dangerous mission (IMDb).
Is River Phoenix a star? Perhaps not. But his hair is. Little Nikita would be nothing without River Phoenix's hair. It's the most engaging, the most watchable thing in the movie. It has body. It has character. It even has drama. In other words, it has everything that's missing from the rest of the picture. Everything in the movie feels arbitrary and unmotivated, and time after time, scenes that should have payoffs don't, or there is action without the necessary set-up that would allow us to make sense out of it. The director is Richard Benjamin, and he is so inept that he can't even stage a car chase. And that, you'd guess, is pretty much the one talent needed these days just to get your guild card. The difficulties reveal more than simply the absence of a style or visual flair. They indicate a lack of any grasp of the essentials of the director's art. Benjamin's camera reveals nothing. When he moves it, it's usually for no particular reason and to no real effect. Both the action and the dialogue scenes are without pace. And there's little compensation in his work with the actors. (HH)
My judgement: *1/2 out of 4 stars
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