The Amateur

Director: James Hawes

Charlie Heller (Rami Malek) is a technology and decryption expert. He is happily married to Sarah (Rachel Brosnahan), but his life changes when Sarah, on a business trip to London, is involved in a terror attack and killed. Devastated, he uses his skills to work out a timeline and identifies those responsible. He negotiates the chance to take revenge with his Langley bosses, but after training with a CIA operational expert (Laurence Fishburne), it becomes clear he’s no cold-hearted killer. But not to be deterred, he instead uses his skills, intelligence and determination to seek justice and revenge for his wife’s death.

I’m a fan of spy thrillers and love a bit of a caper, where smart people use ingenuity to set traps and pull off unlikely tasks. So on paper, The Amateur should have been an entertaining thriller. But for me it’s strangely inert, slow-moving, and even dull. All the ingredients are there but it really didn’t land for me.

Malek’s character is part of the problem. He’s a calm, smart, deliberate character but also very monotone. These characters really need something to grab your attention, a bit of wit and energy, and that is lacking.

Malek’s character isn’t helped by the slow-moving story, which has more holes than a colander. It starts with a very long setup before we get into Heller on his mission, but even then, the film only briefly bursts into life. It struggles to balance Heller’s angst with his drive for justice. It’s also disjointed, with storylines around the core story that never feel relevant or coherent.

The Amateur has so many good ingredients that it should be an exciting Bourne-type thriller. But instead, it’s a slow-moving, disjointed, and rather dull revenge flick. It’s not helped by a central character who lacks the energy or wit needed to carry these films or a story that is slow-moving and full of holes. It’s not terrible; it’s just disappointing.