Little Nikita

"He went to bed an all-American kid and woke up the son of Russian spies."

1988 1h 38m EN

😐

6.0

MID

★6.0TMDB · 123

DramaActionThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

An FBI agent works to uncover an all-American family as Soviet sleeper agents, and gets caught up in friendship with their oblivious teenage son.

“He went to bed an all-American kid and woke up the son of Russian spies.”

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Cast

Sidney Poitier
Roy Parmenter
River Phoenix
Jeff Grant
Richard Jenkins
Richard Grant
Caroline Kava
Elizabeth Grant
Richard Bradford
Konstantin Karpov
Richard Lynch
Scuba
Loretta Devine
Verna McLaughlin
Lucy Deakins
Barbara Kerry

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Richard Benjamin
Writers: Bo Goldman, John Hill, Tom Musca
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 12% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

38 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Richard Benjamin, shot by László Kovács. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Marvin Hamlisch. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Jacqueline Cambas shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Sidney Poitier and River Phoenix and Richard Jenkins carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "He went to bed an all-American kid and woke up the son of Russian spies.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0095532 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Richard Benjamin directs. László Kovács behind the camera. Marvin Hamlisch scores. Jacqueline Cambas cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 12% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
238 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Directed by Richard Benjamin, shot by László Kovács. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Marvin Hamlisch. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Jacqueline Cambas shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Sidney Poitier and River Phoenix and Richard Jenkins carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "He went to bed an all-American kid and woke up the son of Russian spies.".
8IMDB entry: tt0095532 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: László Kovács
Original score: Marvin Hamlisch
Editing: Jacqueline Cambas
Production design: Gene Callahan
Costume design: Patricia Norris
Makeup / hair: Bob Mills
Sound: B. Tennyson Sebastian II
Stunt coordinator: Conrad E. Palmisano
Runtime: 98 min · 1h 38m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $15,000,000
Box office: $1,733,070
Return: 12% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Little Nikita (1988)

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Richard Benjamin

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What people are saying

kevin20192024-02-26
★ 10/10
"Little Nikita" is a highly addictive film and it makes for compelling viewing from beginning to end. Richard Benjamin appears to have forsaken his own acting career in favour of pursuing directing instead and he has certainly selected a very wise choice of material this time around. Benjamin's career as an actor has often reflected that of someone like Clint Eastwood in a lot of ways. They only specialised in playing a particular type of character for the most part and this undoubtedly restricted their choices principally because they may not have coincided with audience expectations concerning what they might have wanted to see them appearing in, but they have now successfully managed to extend their range into other genres as a director and apparently with great acclaim. Hopefully this is a trend which will continue well into the future.

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