The Amateur
The Amateur
After his life is turned upside down when his wife is killed in a London terrorist attack, a brilliant but introverted CIA decoder takes matters into his own hands when his supervisors refuse to take action.
匚卂尺ㄥ reviewedJune 12, 2025
What I liked most about The Amateur is that it doesn’t recycle the same formula that countless other male revenge thrillers have used for ages. The hero of this movie isn’t a former secret agent/black ops/paramilitary soldier with expert knowledge of weaponry and lethal hand-to-hand combat skills. Not that I have anything against those movies, which are fun in a “how’s he going to kill this group of heavily armed guys” sort of way. But aside from who’s dishing out the bloody justice they tend to suffer from a feeling of sameness.
The Amateur, however, features a hero who fits the classical definition of a wimp. (Is calling someone a wimp permitted these days?) Played by Academy Award-winning actor Rami Malek, the only threatening thing about him is his brain, which he uses to take down the bad guys who “fridged” his wife. As such, Malek turns out to be the perfect representative for today’s computer-savvy professionals. He’s neither physically fit nor handsome, but could end you with a few keystrokes.
Aside from its very non-traditional leading man, the movie does fall back on the elements that make movies like these so much fun. There are regular changes of scenery (Paris, Istanbul, Madrid, Romania, the Baltic Sea) and a who’s who supporting cast. Rachel Brosnahan, the former Mrs. Maisel and upcoming romantic interest for a gent named Superman, plays the ill-fated wife. Instead of having her disappear after her first act demise, the movie has her float in and out of the hero’s consciousness like William Wallace’s wife in Braveheart. Caitríona Balfe brings a world-weary sadness to her informant character. Julianne Nicholson has a couple of good scenes as the “over her head” CIA director.
On the male side of the cast, Laurence Fishburne is as funny as he is imposing. Holt McCallany plays another devious government agent. Michael Stuhlbarg appears in the end to good effect, delivering a villain monologue with the cold, dispassionate inflections of a lifelong killer for hire. Jon Bernthal only appears in two scenes and steals them so easily that I wished he was around more.
Director James Hawes, who’s worked extensively in television prior to this movie, keeps the action moving at a moderate clip. Unlike other films in this genre, where the tension continuously builds towards a heated climax, Hawes' stop-and-go pacing felt counterintuitive at first. However, it effectively puts us into the mindset of a protagonist who's emotions swing from crippling depression to lethal action. The screenplay by Ken Nolan and Gary Spinelli is a jumble at times with characters randomly appearing and disappearing from the story, but it always maintains focus on the tragic hero at its center.
The Amateur is an entertaining alternative to the “one man wrecking crew” films. It uses Rami Malek’s geeky nature to good effect and the supporting cast are all solid. The movie doesn’t reinvent the spy thriller or the revenge fantasy but offers an interesting take on both. A well-made and entertaining film. Recommended. detroitcineaste