Little Nikita (1988)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Richard Benjamin

Writers:

Bo Goldman (co-writer)
John Hill (writer)

Release Date:

18 March 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

He went to bed an all-American kid and woke up the son of Russian spies.

Plot:

Roy Parmenter is an FBI agent in San Diego; 20 years ago his partner was killed by a Soviet spy, nicknamed Scuba...

Plot Keywords:

Spy | FBI Agent | Interview | Cigarette Smoking | Flower Shop

Cast

Sidney Poitier	...	Roy Parmenter
River Phoenix	...	Jeff Grant
Richard Jenkins	...	Richard Grant
Caroline Kava	...	Elizabeth Grant
Richard Bradford	...	Konstantin Karpov
Richard Lynch	...	Scuba
Loretta Devine	...	Verna McLaughlin
Lucy Deakins	...	Barbara Kerry
Jerry Hardin	...	Brewer
Albert Fortell	...	Bunin
Robert Madrid	...	Sgt. Leathers (as Robb Madrid)
Ronald Guttman	...	Spessky
Jacob Vargas	...	Miguel
Roberto Jiménez	...	Joaquin
Chez Lister	...	Tom

Also Known As:

The Sleepers

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:M | Iceland:14 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | South Korea:15 | Argentina:Atp | Finland:K-14 | USA:PG | West Germany:12 | Singapore:PG | UK:15

Filming Locations:

San Diego, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

When Roy hands over the driving license to Jeff the birth date is August 23rd 1970, which was the real birth date of actor River Phoenix.

Quotes:

Jeff Grant: Don't give me that crap! You’re out for yourself! The big caller, the major bust, the two-bit g-man, well shove it up you're ass! You’re not my father. You’re not even my friend.

Movie Connections:

Features "Newhart" (1982)

FBI agent stumbles upon Soviet spies while interviewing Air Force Academy hopeful.

The fact that the basic plot of this movie is ridiculous fails to ruin it. FBI agent Roy Parmenter (Sidney Poitier) is interviewing Jeff Grant (River Phoenix) for his possible entrance into the Air Force Academy. While reviewing Grant's file he discovers that his parents Richard (Richard Jenkins) and Elizabeth (Caroline Kava) are not who they seem to be. They turn out to be dormant Soviet spies, `sleepers', who have come to the United States and started a life with their son, who has no idea they are spies.

I won't even go into how silly it is the way Parmenter discovers this, as if computers REALLY work that way. Suffice it to say, when he finally tells an incredulous Jeff about his parents, several other sleepers have already been murdered by renegade double agent Scuba (Richard Lynch). Scuba wants money from the KGB and if he doesn't get it, he will kill every sleeper on his list, the Grants included. The former boss to all these agents is Constantine (Richard Bradford), who is sent to San Diego to collect Scuba and take him back to Russia for punishment.

Scuba is finally captured, by Parmenter, whose partner was murdered by Scuba some 20 years prior, so he has a personal reason for wanting Scuba too. The aforementioned characters wind up on the trolley going towards the Mexican border and an exchange between Parmenter and Constantine, who has abducted Jeff, occurs. However, once at the border, Scuba makes a run for it and all hell breaks loose.

As I said earlier, as implausible as the plot is, the movie is actually quite enjoyable and somehow suspenseful. While you may find yourself rolling your eyes at certain points, you'll also find yourself chuckling at some of the dialog and situations the characters find themselves in. Loretta Devine, as Jeff's teacher Verna McLaughlin, is hilarious in the scene where she is caught in bed with Parmenter by Jeff. `No problem,' she says when Parmenter apologizes, `I'll just go topless for the whole student body!'

Despite the fact that Scuba is the ultimate enemy I found myself cheering him on because Lynch is such a powerful actor. You want to see him on the screen more, no matter what he's doing. The fact that he's not in the film enough is my only other complaint about it.