Based on the novel by Robert Littell (which was already made into a 1981 film of the same name), The Amateur is the story of an introverted decoder and analyst for the CIA, Charlie Heller (Rami Malek), whose wife Sarah (Rachel Brosnahan) is killed during a terrorist attack in London where she is attending a conference. Rather than sit back and let those trained for field work find her killers, Charlie decides to use his unique set of skills to find them and demands field training to track them down and kill them himself. To appease him (to a point), his boss, Director Moore (Holt McCallay), allows him to train with a veteran agent named Henderson (Laurence Fishburne), who makes it perfectly clear after weeks of combat and weapons training that Charlie is no killer and would likely die almost immediately if he actually confronted any of the terrorists.
Charlie doesn’t disagree, so instead, he uses his intelligence as his most effective weapon against these hired killers working for an unknown higher power. Malek does solid work here as a guy whose only connection to the world was his wife. His office is deep in the basement of CIA headquarters in Langley, and he doesn’t mind not having a window or fresh air. He thrives in isolation, and without his wife, he can’t even see straight. He goes rogue when he suspects the CIA might know more than they’re telling him, heading on a dangerous, self-imposed global mission to unlock all of the secrets about his wife’s killers and who they’re working for.
I’ve seen people complain that Malek doesn’t seem to know he’s in an action movie here, and that’s exactly the point of The Amateur. In his mind, he’s not a hero. Without Sarah, he’s in a one-man show with nothing to lose. Not that the film doesn’t have great moments of action, but Malek doesn’t pose and stare like a superhero. He’s not exactly shocked his plans work, but he’s as surprised as anyone that he has the stomach to carry them out.
The second film directed by James Hawes (One Life, many episodes of Apple TV’s Slow Horses series), The Amateur has terrific supporting performances by Julianne Nicholson as the new head of the CIA who doesn’t trust Moore at all, as well as Adrian Martinez, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Jon Bernthal as a more traditional CIA agent who befriends Charlie at a crucial juncture during his mission.
The plot gets overly complicated, but what is clear is that Charlie has good instincts about who he can trust and a brain for setting up death at a distance. In a sometimes brutally cold and calculated way, the film works as spy thriller and an ass-backward action movie, and considering how much I like the more Mission: Impossible-style actioners, it’s refreshing to see that turned on its head so convincingly.
The film is now in theaters.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider supporting Third Coast Review’s arts and culture coverage by making a donation. Choose the amount that works best for you, and know it goes directly to support our writers and contributors.