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Opportunists, The
First Look Pictures Releasing

Opportunists, The reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 71 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
9.0 out of 10
based on 24 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 1 votes
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Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: R for language

Starring Christopher Walken, John Ortiz, Cyndi Lauper, and Peter McDonald

An Irish immigrant (McDonald) comes to America to join a hometown friend (Walken) and auto mechanic that he believes is a crime lord. The two team up for one last heist to pay off their debts.


GENRE(S): Drama  
WRITTEN BY: Myles Connell  
DIRECTED BY: Myles Connell  
RELEASE DATE: Theatrical: August 11, 2000 
RUNNING TIME: 89 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: USA / UK 

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

90
Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
A small gem.
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90
Village Voice Amy Taubin
Filled with vivid and likable characters, The Opportunists could be the basis for a TV series as captivating as "The Sopranos."
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80
Film.com Peter Brunette
A very small film, as they say in the movie business, but its stylish suspensefulness is nicely leavened by Connell's obvious, and welcome, love for his hapless characters.
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80
The New York Times A.O. Scott
This is one of the best-photographed pictures of the year, but not ostentatiously so; the look is organic to the less-than-glamorous badlands of Sunnyside, Queens.
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80
LA Weekly Ernest Hardy
It's Walken who's most impressive.
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75
Boston Globe Jay Carr
Goes soft in the end, but not ruinously so. Meanwhile, its loose cannons bounce off one another deliciously.
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75
San Francisco Chronicle Peter Stack
A brilliant performance (Walken).
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75
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
He (Walken) is a gifted classical actor...and here he understands Victor Kelly from the inside out.
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75
Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
It's a character study, nicely realized.
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75
New York Post Lou Lumenick
Walken gives a beautifully understated performance.
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75
Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
Studded with sturdy acting.
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75
Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach
Playing a perpetual victim like Victor (Walken) might be easy, but making audiences want to watch him for 97 minutes isn't.
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75
New York Daily News Jami Bernard
Enjoyable, intelligent little heist movie.
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75
San Francisco Examiner G. Allen Johnson
An engaging, well-written film that is surprisingly gentle in tone and easily paced.
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75
Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
The movie is small and familiar, but this time, those turn out to be strengths.
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75
Chicago Tribune Marc Caro
Contains ample dry humor and its share of surprising turns, but they operate on a human level rather than with the kind of empty flash we've come to expect from the post-Tarantino crime flicks.
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70
Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
Fair amount of grit and charm.
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67
Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
Not only are these characters beautifully underplayed, but they're underplayed by two of the most enthusiastic scene-stealers around: Walken & Lauper.
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60
TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
The plot isn't what makes this movie worth watching anyway -- it's the performances and the ambiance.
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60
Rolling Stone Peter Travers
Modestly made and modestly charming.
58
Mr. Showbiz Kevin Maynard
It's amiable enough, but the only real opportunity here is to see Walken step out of the shadows.
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58
Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
Skillfully made, yet the film would have been better if it had tapped a bit of that Walken madness.
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58
Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
Ultimately emotionally flat and eminently forgettable.
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50
Dallas Observer Gregory Weinkauf
Once Connell finds his feet, he just may stride forth with his Important American Movie. Until then, The Opportunists is simply a whiff of great unwashedness yet to come.
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What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 1 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

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