Little Nikita *** (1988, Sidney Poitier, River Phoenix, Richard Jenkins, Carolina Kava) – Classic Movie Review 4562

Director Richard Benjamin’s involving 1988 Cold War thriller stars Sidney Poitier and young River Phoenix as a sympathetic FBI man called Roy Parmenter and Jeff Grant, a teenage boy he helps out when it turns out the kid’s parents (Carolina Kava, Richard Jenkins) are Soviet sleeper agents spying for the Russians.

This intriguing but hesitantly developed thriller is let down by John Hill and Bo Goldman’s disappointingly flat screenplay and the fumbled handling from the normally reliable director Benjamin.

However, the unusual story and the stars’ charisma certainly hold the interest. Indeed it’s one of Phoenix’s best performances. Kava and Jenkins score strongly, too. It started out with a humorous concept and became more serious as it was developed, so maybe this explains the feeling of strain in the script.

Also in the cast are Richard Bradford, Richard Lynch, Loretta Devine and Lucy Deakins.

Producer Harry Gittes recalls: ‘We decided that it would be interesting to see the River Phoenix character have to grow up overnight and suddenly be faced with fending for himself in an adults’ world.’

It was one of several of Phoenix’s films that struggled to find an audience and it went straight to video in Britain, alas. It cost $15 million and grossed only $1,733,000 in America.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 4562

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