As if eleven years in the toughest prison in a Soviet labor camp weren't enough, ex-CIA agent Alec Carville is forced to commit a crime after returning to his hometown of Boston by the Russian mafia, which has incriminating material against him. Carville is to steal a valuable painting from a bank. Clever as they are, the Russian mobsters have taken advantage of the strange coincidence that Carville bears a striking resemblance to the owner of the painting, the eccentric young millionaire Grady. However, the mafia's meticulous preparations fail in one - crucial - respect: they did not expect Grady and Carville to meet in the bank, but they do. As a result, total chaos breaks out...
Reviews
You have to give direct to video vet Robert Lee credit for resourcefulness. This 2000 low budget opus hopscotches from Russia to Boston and yet the movie was shot entirely in Victoria British Columbia. Footballer turned action hero Brian Bosworth (Stone Cold) plays a CIA agent who busts out of an asylum in Kiev and escapes to Boston, only to be kidnapped by the local branch of the Russian Mafia. Viewed as a low budget local production The Operative has an engagingly amateurish quality, like a home movie on steroids. The dialogue is howlingly awful unless you regard it as a sloppy satire on Z grade action pics, in which case lines like " "They say danger is the ultimate aphrodisiac. Personally I don't think you need danger to be horny" make a weird kind of sense. Recommended to would be producers looking for tips on how to get a lot of bang for very few bucks and/or action fans who think Dolph Lundgren movies are too cerebral.
Straight-to-video, B-action movie...but it's better than you'd expect. The director obviously went to film school [I'm assuming], because it isn't technically autistic like you'd probably expect from the film's context (B-actors, Russian accents and a low budget). And the story didn't suck so I wasn't bored. Cheers.Beginning credits were cool. Then when it starts you're hit with a sex scene, which made me suspicious as to the quality of the rest of the movie (since you know a movie is bad when they revert to good old fashioned sex to grab your attention). But my suspicions were wrong.The Russian guy "Gregor" looked like a buff, steroided up version of Bobby DeNiro (cool!). Basil looks like Larry Drake. Moments of pure Desperado-like violence. The music is successfully folded in. Could I also say that the guy who wrote this has been watching WAY too many Smokey & the Bandit movies.The Operative: cheap, but entertaining.
I was very surprised. A very well done movie if you are an action fan. Of course, BOZ fans will love it. Bosworth plays a former CIA Operative who gets locked up for 11 years by the US. He comes back better than ever and plays two characters in this action flick. Some corny scenes, but overall, very well done. Great soundtrack and introduction! Good editing saved this movie. The Boz is back and better than ever. It's no Stone Cold, but very good. Keep up the good work Brain! The Operative gets 3.5 out of 4 stars!
Robert Lee and the Cast and Crew of "The Operative" did a great job making a movie in 18 days of shooting on a shoestring budget. If you like action, interesting characters and some unexpected comedy with a sensitive sub-plot, then you should enjoy "The Operative". Sports fans will be impressed with Brian Bosworth's portrayal of more than a couple of characters. Congrats on a low-budget movie with big-budget appeal!
