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Little Nikita
1988 98 min United States of America PG 12+
★6.0
Drama, Action, Thriller
Director: Richard Benjamin
Trailers
Description
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.
Budget:
$15M
US Gross:
$1.73M
Worldwide:
$1.73M
Starring
Sidney Poitier
Actor
River Phoenix
Actor
Richard Jenkins
Actor
Key opinion
Little Nikita is generally viewed as a middling spy thriller that relies on inconsistent generic tropes. While the plot often descends into formulaic or absurd territory, River Phoenix's committed performance provides the film with its most compelling and grounded moments.
| Acting | River Phoenix delivers a powerful, dramatically intense performance that stands out as the film's primary strength. | |
| Originality | The film leans heavily on uninspired, clichéd depictions of Soviet spies and predictable thriller scenarios. | |
| Screenplay | The espionage sequences suffer from a lack of believability, frequently bordering on the absurd. | |
| Theme | Viewers are divided on the film's narrative nuance: some appreciate its avoidance of stark national binaries, while others find the presentation clumsy and stereotypical. |