The Amateurs (2005)

Citizens of a small town, under the influence of a man in the midst of a mid-life crisis, come together to make an adult film.

Director:

Michael Traeger

Writer:

Michael Traeger

Stars:

Jeff Bridges, Ted Danson, Joe Pantoliano

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jeff Bridges	...	Andy Sargentee
Tim Blake Nelson	...	Barney Macklehatton
Joe Pantoliano	...	Some Idiot
Ted Danson	...	Moose
William Fichtner	...	Otis
Patrick Fugit	...	Emmett
John Hawkes	...	Moe
Brad William Henke	...	Ron (as Brad Henke)
Dawn Didawick	...	Clara
Glenne Headly	...	Helen Tatelbaum
Tom Bower	...	Floyd
Jayne Taini	...	Mrs. Morrelli
Lauren Graham	...	Peggy
Jeanne Tripplehorn	...	Thelma
Alex D. Linz	...	Billy

Storyline

Andy Sargentee is a decent guy and the town's favorite failure: an unemployable dreamer whose ex's husband's wealth intimidates Andy to such an extent he does little with his teen son. Andy's new idea is for Butterface Fields to be the first town to band together to make the first full-length feature amateur adult film. He recruits five regulars at Floyd's Bar to contribute $2000 each. They get the kid at the video store, whose camcorder is constantly on, to be the cinematographer. The pal they all call "Some Idiot" volunteers to be writer-director. Otis becomes producer. Now, can they find actors, and especially, women? Can a pornography project give Andy self-respect?

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Plot Keywords:

hot | sex scene | sexy | teen sex comedy | small town | 

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Taglines:

Rise to the Occasion

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexual content and language

Details

Country:

USA Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 April 2006 (UK)

Also Known As:

The Amateurs

Filming Locations:

Arcadia, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$10,149, 9 December 2007

Gross USA:

$16,334

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$102,864

Company Credits

Production Co:

First Look International, Qwerty Films, N1 European Film Produktions GmbH & Co. KG

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

[All goofs for this title are spoilers.]

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Quotes

Andy Sargentee: I don't do, Ok, I try. And I'm trying to make a porno because it's something I might be able to do. Because it's killing me I haven't done anything. You know, people who do, they have extra time, not us trying people, we're busy trying all the time. Nothing takes up more time than trying.

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Crazy Credits

During the beginning of the real end credits you can see a piece of film of our gang fishing. At the end of the names, the film starts to burn. The rest of the credits follow on a black screen.

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Alternate Versions

The first 15 minutes of the American release (up until the opening titles sequence) have been completely re-edited and re-worked from the original UK and Australian release.

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: The Golden Compass/The Amateurs/Atonement/Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story/Grace Is Gone (2007)

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Soundtracks

Underdog
Written by Mark Stoney
Performed by Stoney
Courtesy of AWAL Records

User Reviews

Not Bad at All

I didn't know what to think at first when I put it into the DVD player. But once it was started it really turned out to be a decent movie. Jeff Bridges always seems to get the strangest roles (like The Dude in the Big Lebowski) but somehow he always comes through with an excellent performance. We saw many other notable actors such as Ted Danson, William Fitchner and Tim Blake Nelson. The cast was put together well and the story was original and worthy of checking out. It had it's one liners and funny moments, but the story also brought good moral into the end. I really would recommend for all fans of Jeff Bridges' work to check it out sometime. It wasn't a really strong hyped movie, but hey it was all and all decent, because of the story that it had to it. This movie to me deserves a total of 8/10 stars. Basically because it entertained me.