Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- deadpan
- witty
- baffled
- arthouse movie night
- dark comedy double feature
What critics said
Critics generally find the film inventive and darkly funny, with Isabelle Huppert’s performance and Hal Hartley’s distinctive sensibility standing out despite an uneven crime-comedy structure.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Thomas’s memory loss drives Isabelle and him to reconstruct his criminal past.
Isabelle’s religious expectations, pornography work, and Thomas’s disturbing history are presented through baffled, dryly comic interactions.
Thomas’s former career and Sofia’s coerced transformation into a notorious porn performer shape the central conflict.
Hal Hartley’s writing and direction place Isabelle, Thomas, and Sofia in an unusually mannered crime-romance world.
Films like Amateur, and why
Trust
deadpan crime comedy, eccentric characters, and morally offbeat romantic tension
Simple Men
surrealist humor, fractured identity, and an idiosyncratic independent-film sensibility
The Big Sleep
amnesiac criminal mystery, dark comedy, and stylized neo-noir atmosphere
Movie Details
- Director
- Hal Hartley
- Release Date
- 1994-08-05
- Runtime
- 105 min
- Rating
- 6.2 / 10 (112)
Cast
- Isabelle Huppert
- Martin Donovan
- Elina Löwensohn
- Damian Young
- Chuck Montgomery
- Dave Simonds
- Pamela Stewart
- Erica Gimpel
- Jan Leslie Harding
- Terry Alexander
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- BFI Player Amazon Channel
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Amateur about?
- An ex-nun who writes pornography helps an amnesiac former pornographer uncover the dangerous past that has put his wife on the run.
- What is Amateur like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Amateur as measured, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Amateur violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Amateur as mild.
- What did critics think of Amateur?
- Critics generally find the film inventive and darkly funny, with Isabelle Huppert’s performance and Hal Hartley’s distinctive sensibility standing out despite an uneven crime-comedy structure.
- Which films are like Amateur?
- Films with a similar feel include Trust, Simple Men, and The Big Sleep.
- How long is Amateur?
- Amateur runs 105 minutes.
- Where can I watch Amateur?
- In United States, Amateur streams on BFI Player Amazon Channel.
