L'Ambassadeur

The Ambassador (1984)

** (out of 4)

Well-meaning but incredibly over-active thriller has Robert Mitchum playing the American ambassador to Israel who is trying to bring peace in the Middle East. While him and his security advisor (Rock Hudson) are getting shot at, his wife (Ellen Burstyn) is banging a man (Fabio Testi) but neither one realizes that some terrorists are video taping their love sessions to blackmail the ambassador. Pretty soon it is revealed that the wife's lover might have terrorist ties himself.

Cannon was known for releasing countless action pictures that were usually rather mindless and just exploited the various subjects that they were covering. Film like DEATH WISH II, MISSING IN ACTION and AMERICAN NINJA were among the studios most popular pictures but THE AMBASSADOR is something completely different. It's clear that Cannon wanted to send a message to the Middle East that peace was possible but unfortuantly for them the movie just went off the rails so to speak. This picture simply tried to do way too much and in the end it's pretty much a complete mess.

The film is really all over the place in regards to what it's trying to do and it almost seems as if no one could agree on what to do with the picture. It starts off with some incredibly wild and over-the-top action scenes and so far so good. Then you've got a rather sleazy sex scene between Burstyn and Testi, which includes the actress doing some nudity. Again, so far it's fun. You then get into an incredibly long political drama about the whole peace idea and then there's some shocking and incredibly bloody violence that pops up at the end. All the while Mitchum and Hudson are trying to uncover this terrorist plot and get the sex tape back before it reaches the media.

I'm going to guess Cannon really wanted a serious drama but there wasn't a way to make money on that alone so additional bits of action were thrown in. Thompson, who was working in mainly "B" pictures at this time, manages to build up some nice action but the drama of the story is downright weak and the "message" of the movie is a bit silly to say the least. The film just never really packs a punch or builds up any sort of tension so the non-stop political talk eventually gets boring and when Mitchum's character isn't worried about the sex tape then why should the viewer be?

The film benefits from its terrific cast and that alone makes it worth sitting through. I think had Mitchum and Hudson switched roles the film might have been better but it was still fun seeing them together. Burstyn in good in her role of the wife and Testi is always dependable. You've also got Donald Pleasence so that's another plus. The film's violent climax features some gory shots that I'm sure shocked most people at the time of the film's release unless they were fans of slashers and were already used to it.

In the end, THE AMBASSADOR has its heart in the right place but it just never fully comes together.

This middling movie boasts a star-studded cast , such as : Robert Mitchum , Ellen Burstyn, Rock Hudson , Fabio Testi and Donald Pleasence . This movie's opening prologue states: "The Middle East is a powder keg, ready to explode. A melting pot of conflicting religious and political factions. Israel, with a population of 4 million, is surrounded by 8 Arab countries with a population of 80 million. A group known as the P. L. O. (Palestinian Liberation Organisation) has vowed never to recognize Israel's right to exist and to fight on until a Palestinian homeland is realized. Lately, there are signs that the P. L. O. Is willing to talk peace with the Israelis. A Syrian based splinter group of the P. L. O., the SAIKA, the most extreme of all existing terrorist groups in the area, spreads terror on both the Israelis and the Arabs in order to stop any possibility of peace negotiations. Within Israel there are two major conflicting points of view : The moderates, who are ready to sit at the table with the P. L. O., and the right wing extremists who refuse to accept a Palestinian state in the region. The MOSSAD is the intelligence agency of the state of Israel and protects the official Israeli government position.¨ As an American ambassador (Robert Mitchum) is sent to the Middle East to attempt to solve the area's deep political problems. In Israel he tries to bring peace to the Middle East , but things go wrong , as he quickly becomes the target of terrorist attacks and while extremely criticized by all factions , resulting in being blamed for the nation's unrest . To make matters worse , his wife (Ellen Burstyn) is having a thorny affair with a suspect man (Fabio Testi) . The President ignores him , forcing the ambassador to fend for himself , as his personal existence and his own life are threatened . Meanwhile , his security official (Rock Hudson who was in poor health due to AIDS) saves his life in an assassination attempts and tries to help him resolve the conflicts around them . His career is in jeopardy... His marriage is in ruins... And his life is in danger... HE'S THROUGH NEGOTIATING.

A well intentioned film in which a kindly ambassador attempts to solve a long conflict through unconventional methods , but his efforts are hampered at every turn . Based on Elmore Leonard's 52 Pickup and ramade a year lar under its own title ¨52 Pickup¨1986 by John Frankenheimer with Roy Scheider , Ann-Margret , Vanity , John Glover , in fact , both movies were produced by Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus and The Cannon Group . Interpretations are passable , such as Robert Mitchum who plays in his usual style as a controversial U. S. ambassador to Israel trying to solve the Palestinian question which takes a turn when his wife well played by Ellen Burstyn begins having an affair with a PLO chief finely performed by Italian Fabio Testi . Rock Hudson in his last theatrical movie role plays Mitchum's chief security officer , giving a regular acting as the resourceful agent who along the way helps him . However , supposedly Robert Mitchum and Rock Hudson did not get along with each other .

The motion picture was professional but middlingly directed by J. Lee Thompson , though it has some disappointing scenes , shortcomings , failures , flaws and gaps . He previously had a nice track record in the English cinema from 1950 until 1961 , directing good Western (McKenna's gold , White Buffalo) and all king genres as Sci-Fi (Conquest and Battle of planet of apes), terror (Reincarnation of Peter Proud, Eye of the devil), adventures (Flame over India ,Kings of the sun, Taras Bulba , Tiger Bay) and Warlike ( Guns of Navarone, Von Braun , Chairman , The passage) . His two biggest successes turned out to be ¨Guns of Navarone¨and ¨Cape Fear¨. Thereafter , the filmmaker's career subsided in a morass of slickly realized but ordinary films. He moved into the field of international spectaculars , at which point his filmmaking seemed to lose its individuality . J. Lee Thompson working from the 50s in England, finished his career making Chuck Norris (Firewalker) and Charles Bronson vehicles (Caboblanco, Evil that men do, Messenger of death, Death Wish 4 : Crackdown, Caboblanco, St Ives). Rating : 4.5/10, average , only for Robert Mitchum, Rock Hudson hardcore fans.

Imdb has this as released 1984, while free tubi has this as 1985. Stars rock hudson and robert mitchum, as stevenson and hacker, trying to keep peace in israel and the territories. Hacker is the ambassador to israel. Stevenson is his security. Co-stars donald pleasence as the israeli minister of defense. Ellen burstyn is the ambassador's wife, alex, and her naughty, night-time activities are make her husband's job much harder, when she is filmed. It's okay. Pretty low budget. Produced by golan globus, who have a record of making films on the cheap. Some dropped threads of storyline. Or maybe that was just poor editing. Topless women. And hudson's final film. We spend so much time on trying to get the film back, when hacker has already told everyone he doesn't care if it's shown on national television. Big, grand finale. Very symbolic of the actual situation. Directed by lee thompson.

An always interesting, if audacious and harsh low-key political thriller from Cannon and headed by ace director J. Lee Thompson. Maybe his best work in the 80s. The aged stars are quite a delight and the true staying power with Robert Mitchum (who's playing it easy), Rock Hudson, Ellen Burstyn, Fabio Testi and Donald Pleasance working very well off each other. Indeed a top-notch ensemble cast confidently directed by Thompson.

The knotty context of the film (the on going conflict in the Middle East) is a complicated web (with touch of blackmail and martial problems thrown in for good measure), but smartly engineered if a little too pushy at times. Still it's effective, stirring and informative in detailing its intentions. When it came to the jarring action, it was to the point and within chaotic bursts. I didn't find it thrilling in those passages, but you're kept glued as you want to see what becomes of the suspense beating situations. Dov Seltzer's humidly sultry music arrangement is on the ball and suitably placed. It truly gives it a grander edge and the location choices authentically sprawl off the screen. Thompson keeps it moving and times everything to perfection.

A reasonably solid offering by all involved.

A good little action/suspense thriller that was released by the now defunct Cannon group that has the novelty of dealing with the Israeli-Palestanian crisis with real intelligence and being Rock Hudson's last feature film. It stars Robert Mitchum as Peter Hacker, an American ambassador to Israel who tries to bring peace in the Middle East by unorthodox means, but his adulteress wife, played by Ellen Burstyn, threatens to derail his plans when she has an affair with a PLO leader. To make matters worse, someone threatens to expose a film of the affair if a high ransom isn't paid and the ambassador has a hefty price on his head for certain assassins. Rock Hudson plays Frank Stevenson, the ambassador's loyal security officer/friend who tries to unravel the scheme before the film hits the airwaves.

Heading a first rate cast, Robert Mitchum plays the lead role with grace and style as a man who tries to accomplish his goals when everything possible is trying to derail him and Ellen Burstyn plays the wife with right note between guilt and steadfast loyalty for her husband. Rock Hudson, on the other hand, is given little to do. He does what he can with the thankless role as the security officer but basically he's just there to try to talk some sense into the ambassador's head and to carry out orders; it's a little sad ending to a brilliant career. The film itself is well-done and first rate with a higher budget and quality than most Cannon films and the location shoots are first-rate. Check it out if you want a Middle-East political thriller with some action thrown into it for good measure.