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A chance encounter in a coffee shop between two people, both of whom are seeking their own identities (one literally, one figuratively), leads to a relationship seemingly beneficial to both, but for different reasons, in `Amateur,' written and directed by Hal Hartley. A man (Martin Donovan) wakes up one morning lying on his back in a quiet, out-of-the-way street in New York City; all he knows is that he's bleeding from the back of his head and is suffering from total amnesia. He has no identification on him; he has no idea who he is or how he came to be on that street. Dazed, he stumbles into a small coffee shop and sits down at the counter. He tries to order something, but the only money he has is Dutch, and he has no idea why. A young woman, also sitting at the counter and working on a lap-top computer, observes his plight and notices the blood on the back of his neck.

Her name is Isabelle (Isabelle Huppert); asking for some water, she cleans his injury and buys him something to eat. Isabelle, it turns out, is a former nun, having only recently left the convent after fifteen years. Rather lost herself, she is attempting to make a living by writing pornographic stories for a magazine. A self-professed nymphomaniac (though she is still a virgin), she also feels that she has a specific purpose in life, a destiny she has yet to fulfill, though she has yet to figure out what it is. But she believes that meeting this man is a sign; perhaps he's a part of whatever it is she has to do. So she decides to help him, which just may lead her to the answers she is seeking about her own life, as well.

As with all of Hartley's films, this one has a somewhat mesmerizing effect, which he exacts with a unique style of presenting his story that has to do with the look and feel of the film, the deliberate pace he establishes, and most especially the manner in which his actors deliver their lines. His performers speak with a rather stoic, matter-of-fact, understated rhythm that is engrossing in itself, very similar to the kind of cadence David Mamet employs in his films. But Hartley's method is even more pronounced, so that when one of his characters does have an emotional outburst, the underplaying that surrounds it significantly underscores the impact of it all.

Few directors have such a unique style that so vividly identifies their work; Mamet is one, Ingmar Bergman another (the three of them being part of a very select group). And though this particular film is not, perhaps, one of Hartley's best, it is still pure Hartley, with aspects that are certainly engaging and memorable, beginning with his main character, Isabelle. Talk about an off-the-wall character! And yet, within the context of the story, she comes across as quite real and believable, which says something about Huppert's ability as an actress, as well as Hartley's expertise as a director.

Huppert gives a very credible performance here, convincingly conveying that sense of confusion Isabelle obviously harbors deep within about her own life and where she's headed. She makes you realize that beyond anything else that's happening, this is essentially a person searching for a place to fit in, which is why she makes such a connection with this stranger, this man who really has no idea of who he is or where he belongs. And Huppert certainly makes Isabelle someone with whom it is easy to empathize.

Donovan, a veteran of many of Hartley's films, is very effective here also, with a very pensive, understated performance that clearly indicates an honest sense of this man's bewilderment, as does the very real caution with which he approaches his situation as he attempts to reorient himself and get on with his life. And Hartley develops the relationship between Isabelle and this man in real time-- there's no instant love affair here, as happens so often in cinematic renderings of similar situations-- which gives a ring of authenticity to the story, bizarre as it may get.

The supporting cast includes Elina Lowensohn (Sofia), Damian Young (Edward), Chuck Montgomery (Jan), Dave Simonds (Kurt) and Pamela Stewart (Officer Melville). No one can capture a sense of disenfranchisement any better than Hartley, as the characters in `Amateur' so aptly illustrate; these are people perpetually on the outside looking in, and yet there's something about them with which you will be able to relate, as well as sympathize . And that's part of Hartley's magic; making you realize, that in the end we're not so different from one another, after all. I rate this one 7/10.

Just stumbled across this movie on STARZ CINEMA. Never hear of it, the director (who apparently has a following) or most of the actors. But I remembered Isabelle Huppert from "Bedroom Window" years ago, and she was worth a look.

What a piece of work! The most inspired, goofy film noir dialogue you will ever hear spoken, by deadpanned actors that somehow still grow on you. The missing person police officer who is heartbroken with every case. The virgin nymphomaniac, when asked how that combination can exist, says "I'm Choosy!" Since she's an ex-nun, I suppose that's true. The former porn star (what a sultry look!!) who wants to become a "mover and a shaker". Priceless stuff. This is also a very gentle R, with almost no profanity or nudity, in its sex crazed, porn sort of way.

Many other IMDb people have given plot points, and either love or hate the presentation, but anyone who was not flat out hysterical when the "hitman" got shot, should stick to TV sitcoms. It was a pure Monty Python worthy moment!!

Hal Hartley's "Amateur" is an engagingly offbeat take on the "crime thriller" genre. It is also perhaps the most quietly thoughtful handling of amnesia (not as a plot trick, but as a subject) you're ever likely to see. But be warned: Hartley's refreshingly non-mainstream, detached, minimalist style takes quite some getting used to, and the ending is needlessly downbeat. (**1/2)

Quirky, odd, brilliant. This is the best use of deadpan delivery I've ever seen. Martin Donovan is excellent. If you're going to rent a Hal Hartley movie you should start with this one; it's the most accessible and the funniest, and also the least stagey.

Isabelle is an ex-nun waiting for her special mission from God. In the meantime, she is making a living writing pornography. She meets Thomas, a sweet, confused amnesiac who cannot remember that he used to be a vicious pornographer, responsible for turning his young wife, Sofia, into the world's most notorious porn queen.

What I liked about this film was how it circled around pornographic topics, but was never itself obscene. The language is rarely crude, and there is either no nudity or such small amounts to be almost unnoticeable. Yet, three of the main characters are (or were) actively involved in the pornography business.

I also liked the cheesy line delivery (such as the bit about "floppy disks"). I don't know if this was intentional, or something that just happened because they actresses were foreign... but it added a nice charm, I thought.

At times hilarious and at others mind numbingly boring and dull, this is certainly something different. Your milage with the affected acting, long pauses, deadpan delivery, and scattershot plot may vary, but it's usually interesting. Check it out if you want something off the beaten path.

Its been a while since I've this movie but its always stayed with me and I would strongly recommend it. This film has Hal Hartley's trademark sparse, artsy atmosphere, with the slightly surreal characters, the staged dialogue and set pieces. All the characters are quirky and memorable, I loved Isabelle Huppert's character - the nymphomanical nun - in particular and the story dissects amnesia in a really interesting way.

Above all the central love story will draw you in more than you realise; the ending was both crushing and fitting. This is due to the acting, as every movement and expression helps to build characters and relationships. Isabelle Huppert and Martin Donovan both do this perfectly, and the impact of the ending owes a lot to them. The odd 'staging' of the film may put off those expecting a more conventional thriller but open minded viewers will be rewarded.

Amateur was entirely to be a 90s movie that you never watched. I think this film was dark, but in reality, it was a Comedy, and I loved it; I know that French New Wave inspired this film.

Much like Hartley's earlier works, "Trust" and "The Unbelievable Truth", "Amateur" is a quirky, offbeat film, that achieves success through its deadpan dialog and its quirky character portrayals. Martin Donovan (who also appears in Trust) plays Thomas, who, suffering from amnesia resulting from a fall at the start of the film, never discovers his own identity. His interactions with those who knew him (but won't necessarily admit it) provide the basis for the rest of the story.

Although I liked Trust somewhat more, Amateur is still a good film, and does provide a "gentle" introduction to Hartley's work.

I am ashamed to admit that I have only just discovered Hal Hartley. Fortunately, not too late, as I think I still have enough time remaining on this planet to hunt up and watch all of his other films.

I'm getting a real chuckle out of reading all the one-star reviews here by people who just don't "get it". I don't blame them, really, but there should be some way of warning them not to do it; not to embarrass themselves by displaying their shallowness. If it's slick predigested Hollywood pap liberally peppered with explosions they're looking for, they're in the wrong place.

Hal Hartley rules. If he's made better films than "Amateur" then I'm in for a real treat.

Special brand of Hartly with a nymphomaniac ex-nun, (who hasn't had sex yet!), looking for that special mission from God. Along comes Thomas, (Donovan, the only actor who knows how to fit perfectly into Hartly's strange but exciting style), a man with amnesia, in search of himself. To stir the pot we have Sofia, (the stunning Elina), who makes up the web that draws the film into a set of genres dealing with corporate espionage, sexual tension, demented gangsters, cops on the hunt and everything quiet peculiar!

Characters and story dreamed up by an auteur without imagination. Fake to the bone. No relation to life. Dialog pretentiously abstract, meant to be funny but isn't. Caricatured characters can sometimes be fun--see Dr. Strangelove--but the caricature has to grow from a sense of life. This is so airless, so film-schooly, watching it is like trying to breathe in a vacuum. An ex-nun nymphomaniac, so she says, who has not had sex because "I'm choosy", and a porn star, some gangsters, etc., adds up to a labored, dead, badly acted pseudo movie. I watched it because of all the good comments, so I'm warning those with ears to hear.

This is without any doubt one of the best films ever made. The plot is pretty complex, four persons (all terrible amateurs) trying to live their lives without mutch knowledge 'bout the subject. The conversations are wonderful, the acting is awesome (especially Isabelle Huppert, her performance is a masterpiece you haven't seen since...Vertigo?). This is the only film I've ever seen three times in a row.I couldn't stop myself. An interesting thing about it is that not only the main, but even the smallest and least important characters are truly amateurs. The police girl, the video store guy, the café girl... Ain't we all after all?

In story, cinematography, and acting, I see the strong influence from Jean-Luc Godard's films in the 80s, especially arty-and-pop "amateur" crime movie First Name: Carmen. The behavior of Edward (Damian Young) after being tortured is reminiscent of Godard's acting; it cracks me up.

However, I have to say this film is terrible for the following reasons: student film level of acting, full of meaningless dialogues (e.g. "I'm sorry" "For what?" "I don't know"), and an abrupt ending. Please no more clichéd amnesia gimmick to make a plot. Please no more "latest" technology gadget--I'm talking about that pathetic floppy disk joke.

Mix Hal Hartley's deft writing, crisp dialogue and odd sensibilities with an almost Hollywood plot and you have a great film.

Isabelle Huppert and Martin Donavan are great on screen together.

This is the worst movie I can remember having watched! A sort of "new violence but not really" type of movie. Bad acting, stupid plot, going nowhere, ending nowhere. The only thing I liked was the Edward-character.

This film, like other films of Hal Hartley's is something of a quirky character and therefore is a bit of a personal taste. For those who enjoy his special brand of humor this early film in his output has all the characteristics that he revisits in subsequent films. Equally, many of the actors will be seen in later films too and this is as good place as any to start investigating his output. 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 porn 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...

Most mystery films focus on the identity of the bad guy. This film instead chooses to explore the bad guy's identity. The film opens with him laying unconscious on a cobblestone street. He awakes but has no idea who he is. With this premise, the audience always knows who the bad guy is. He is in almost every frame of the feature. The rest of the film sets about discovering who the bad guy is. Most scenes are arranged as artfully as a painting, the actors understand and enlarge Hartley's vision, and the music, ranging from Liz Phair to Pavement, is excellent. Great characters, dialogue, and nice tips of the hat to the human condition with some good laughs as well.

Overall rating: 9 out of 10.

In fact, how can you not love it? All the Hartley stylistic markers are here and frankly that should be enough but if it isn't then, well, you'll just have to make do with liking it for its top plot, corking dialogue and entertaining moments. Hal Hartley has been a consistently clever film-maker throughout this decade and "Amateur" is one of his more accomplished works, adding a real depth to some quite seedy characters. Simply put, this film is stonking and, hopefully, after watching it you will be tempted, like me, to go out and watch the rest of the Hartley back catalogue.

Five years after making his delightful first feature film, THE UNBELIEVABLE TRUTH (1989), Hal Hartley wrote and directed this rather inferior film, his fifth feature. This film certainly has excellent acting by Martin Donovan, Elina Löwensohn, and Isabelle Huppert. (Donovan is still working with Hartley, and has just appeared in Hartley's latest film NED RIFLE (2014).) But Hartley does not pull off the extremely unpleasant story about some pretty unpleasant people. He goes for comedic effects including holding shots for long enough for us to laugh (hopefully), but he overdoes it and the whole thing does not work. Nor would one necessarily want to know what happens to those people anyway. And I for one certainly did not want to laugh about it, because they are all so disgusting that it simply is not funny. The film starts off with Martin Donovan lying in an alley in New York City, apparently dead. Elina Löwensohn is scampering around his body anxiously and then runs off in fear. Donovan then wakes up and can remember nothing, not even who he is. So far, so good, a promising start to an amnesia story. But then Hartley has ludicrously created a character played by Huppert who is an ex-nun who has left her convent and engages in sex fantasies, claiming to Donovan (whom she befriends) that she is a nymphomaniac who is also a virgin. So far not so good. It is too silly, and Huppert's gloomy expressions and attempts to make her character convincing by means of enigmatic frowns are not successful. Then we discover that the unknown persona of Donovan is not Mr. Nice Guy suffering from memory loss, as we have been led to believe, but instead a Mr. Extremely Nasty who murders and maims people and is involved in prostitution rackets. Charming! So we have a violent nutter who is mixed up with a pious nutter and also with a pornography star who is also a nutter, played by the always-intriguing and alluring Löwensohn whose talents are utterly wasted here. And it is all such a waste of time. Hartley should have torn up the hopeless script and written something worthwhile, but instead he went ahead and shot the damned thing. If we are meant to see anything profound in the resulting mess, I have yet to detect it. Time to move on.

Like all Hal Harltley flicks, you never just like them. Forgive me for the cliche, but you either love them, or hate them. Amateur is no exception. Simply put, I was awestruck at how thorough, and true the film was to it's title. Few other films so clearly conform all elements, be it theme, or just plain performance, to one sole thing: being Amateur.