‘The Amateur’ Review: Rami Malek Is a CIA Analyst Turned Avenger in a Thriller More By-the-Code Than It Looks

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In “The Amateur,” Rami Malek portrays Charlie Heller, a brilliant CIA analyst with a knack for decryption and virtual hacking, stationed five floors beneath Langley. Outside of work, he shares a renovated farmhouse with his cherished wife Sarah (Rachel Brosnahan), seemingly living the ideal life. However, when Sarah is kidnapped by terrorists during a business trip in London and executed on the spot, it feels as if Charlie’s world has vanished. As the incident was an international crime, his superiors at the Agency promise to track down the culprits. Yet, this isn’t enough for Charlie. His anger, his thirst for vengeance, cannot be appeased by their words alone. Instead, he declares, “I want to take matters into my own hands and seek retribution myself.

As a movie enthusiast, I’ve always found that unauthorized vengeance makes for the most compelling stories. You see, an officially sanctioned revenge tale just wouldn’t pack the same punch. It’s the law-breaking, the gritty underbelly, that gives these movies their edge. I trace the modern revenge film back to “Joe” (1970), where Peter Boyle’s character took on a hippie commune with vengeance in his heart. But let’s not forget classics like “Walking Tall” (1973) and “Death Wish” (1974), which showcased men taking matters into their own hands, armed with everything from handguns to hickory clubs. These films played a significant role in shaping the conservative narrative, long before Fox News – their ‘no mercy’ message was echoed in countless right-wing talk radio broadcasts. The legacy of this genre could arguably be seen in the emphasis on revenge in Donald Trump’s political agenda. At times, he appears more like the Punisher than the President.

Originally, revenge films held an edge due to their undercurrent of anti-social rebellion. For instance, Charles Bronson in “Death Wish” portrayed a peaceful architect who, following his wife’s death, embraced his inner aggressor. This is the thrill of retribution on screen – it makes you feel justifiable and above the law. However, “The Amateur,” produced after numerous decades of such films, offers a polished tech aesthetic, efficient practicality, and a deadpan absurdity that makes the genre as smooth as playing a video game.

In the CIA hideout, Charlie isn’t your typical action-packed hero. Despite engaging in a series of pursuits, he maintains a distance from his violent instincts – an intriguing twist for the moviegoer. His aim with a gun is questionable due to his nearsightedness and he lacks the physical prowess common in most action heroes. Instead, Charlie excels in strategy rather than brute force. As he traverses cities like Paris, Marseille, Istanbul, and the Baltic Coast, tracking down weapons dealers who supply rogue nation-states, he continues to operate more from behind his desk, orchestrating plans, setting up intricate traps. This portrayal gives a sense that he’s familiar with action movies rather than living them.

Perhaps the reason “The Amateur” fails to deliver a strong impact is because it’s directed in an impersonal manner by James Hawes, a British television director known for episodes of “Doctor Who.” The script, penned by Ken Nolan and Gary Spinelli (adapted from Robert Littell’s novel), constantly introduces new elements. However, there’s a distinction between presenting unexpected twists and justifying them. It may seem nitpicky to criticize an undercover thriller for being implausible, but many of the events in “The Amateur” feel…random. The protagonist, Charlie, arrives at a picturesque location, locates one of the suspects, and attempts to coerce him into revealing the group’s leader’s whereabouts. When the suspect refuses, it’s not surprising that the pool the killer is swimming in at midnight, which just so happens to be glass-enclosed, has been booby-trapped with explosives. At times, “The Amateur” could easily have been named “The Trigger.

Initially, Charlie contemplates extorting his CIA supervisors following his discovery of a hidden truth about a joint drone strike that resulted in the death of 1,000 innocent civilians. However, it’s not advisable to blackmail the CIA. To stall, Alex Moore, the deputy director with a dark reputation, pretends to support Charlie’s revenge scheme, even arranging for him to receive secretive guidance from agency veteran Robert Henderson, portrayed by Laurence Fishburne. Henderson assesses Charlie by stating, “You’re not a killer.” The training sessions move swiftly, bordering on farcical; the purpose is to demonstrate that Charlie struggles to grasp the typical action movie plot twists.

However, once he manages to evade Moore and his pursuing overseers, “The Amateur” transforms into a cinematic experience reminiscent of the Bourne series, albeit with fewer brutal fights and loud car chases. It combines elements of “Death Wish,” “Munich,” “The Killer,” and a typical spy adventure set in an era where technology serves as a lethal tool. The film is well-crafted, never becoming dull to watch, but it’s packed with pulp fiction tropes.

In a humorous twist, I find myself successfully picking an apartment lock following instructions from a video, which made me wonder what “The Amateur” might have been if it had fully embodied its title. However, this scene seems like a leftover from a previous draft; the learning-as-you-go element isn’t consistent enough. Later on, I forge an alliance with the spy I’ve been communicating with under the alias Inquiline for five years, only to discover that he’s…surprisingly tame, to put it mildly.

In the third thriller since his rise to fame in “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Rami Malek’s character-defining intensity and nervous energy are further emphasized. He perfectly portrays a digital whiz transformed into a mindhunter; his piercing eyes seem like lasers. The scene where he traps one of the killers (an asthmatic) in a medical chamber filled with pollen, showcases an unsettling hint of sadism. However, Malek’s portrayal of his revenge mission feels more academic than real. The premise of “The Amateur,” that the protagonist must carry out all actions himself, remains fundamentally a dramatic device. This is why the movie is decent but not exceptionally gripping.

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2025-04-08 19:18