Peckinpah's swan song, The Osterman Weekend is a well-crafted espionage thriller that remains interesting despite a limited budget and a confusing storyline.

Rutger Hauer plays a television talk show host who becomes a pawn in a CIA plot involving the exposure of several of his friends who are suspected Soviet agents, or so it seems. A subplot has a rogue CIA agent (Hurt) operating on his own agenda while attempting to uncover the perpetrators of his wife's murder.

Despite the convoluted plotline, Peckinpah keeps the proceedings interesting with several nice visual touches. The exciting climax has Hauer and his wife (Foster) battling their numerous foes, while armed only with crossbows.

Though having only limited control over the script, Peckinpah managed to inject the clever cynicism prevalent in much of his work. The film also makes several good commentaries on media (particularly television) manipulation, which can be seen as one of the primary themes of the film; namely the influence (subtle or otherwise) that the media has in the lives of Americans.