The Amateur

3 outta 5

The Amateur is a formulaic throwback with some cool spy revenge bits and lots of the cool moments are already in the trailer. Lead actor Rami Malek brings weird energy to potentially seem like his character can snap at any moment. This follows a tried-and-true revenge movie formula that doesn’t break any new ground but works very well within those confines. It does make one miss the high energy spy thrillers like 24, which actually had Jack Bauer yelling at Rami Malik for one episode. It was cool.

CIA cryptographer Charlie (Malek) is trying to track down an information broker, and helping out a fellow agent, nicknamed the Bear (Jon Bernthal). One day he is informed that his wife, Sarah (Rachel Brosnahan) was killed in a terrorist attack and Charlie tells his superiors that he wants field training to take out the terrorists. His superiors scoff, saying that he couldn’t take out an elderly grandma, but after some light blackmail, they let him train with the veteran agent, Hendo (Laurence Fishburne). After getting training in how to make an explosive IED, and not being very good at firearms, Charlie hits the road to track down the terrorists. But he starts to draw more unwanted attention from both the CIA and the terrorists, and he finds the information broker to help him out with his revenge mission.

Malek already played a somewhat mentally unhinged computer genius for a few seasons on Mr. Robot and he is back into that character trope here. His Charlie in Amateur is just one talking to the audience monologue and a few more mental twitches away from being his lead from Mr. Robot again. One thing Malek is really good at is projecting intense energy when he toys with the terrorist who killed his wife. As it is in revenge movies, it is a little sadistic. When Charlie meets the big bad head terrorist, Schiller (Michael Stuhlbarg), he points out that Charlie gave everyone a basically impossible out for their deadly predicament only as a way for Charlie to ease his conscience. The plot of the wife being killed in a terrorist attack is a little awkward, as there is no proof of her death, it is almost as if the film is setting up a surprise that she has been kidnapped or something. Ultimately, Brosnahan’s role is primarily some misty flashbacks that make Charlie sad.

Jon Bernthal is only in like two scenes which are not particularly important to the plot, but he’s always memorable because he’s freakin’ Jon Bernthal. He’s sporting a crazy beard which is probably why when he popped up on Daredevil: Born Again a few weeks ago, Frank was sporting a crazy beard (which actually served to make Frank look crazier than usual). He doesn’t sound like The Punisher here, his Bear is chipper which makes for an odd juxtaposition with his killer job as a CIA Agent. But in another scene when he meets Charlie in the field he tries to keep things light (he greets Charlie with “Let’s have some shitty Russian coffee!”) there is still an undercurrent of menace. Other more overt bits of villainy are supplied by Holt McCallany as a CIA director who doesn’t have time for Charlie’s revenge plan but hopes Charlie will get killed in the process and eliminate the nuisance. Stuhlbarg as Schiller the big terrorist really only has one scene at the end, but there’s a lot of scary talking. There’s a moment when Charlie pulls a gun on him and he flinches like a coward, which is what Charlie said he was looking for the whole time.

Charlie does get some assistance. The information broker turns out to be the widow of a Russian agent, and she wryly notes that falling out windows is the number one death of Russian agents. She says a few sad things about loss to Charlie, which are heavy statements about how quiet it is when the loved one isn’t around anymore, and she has a heartbreaking scene where she asks to sleep next to Charlie so she can feel the warmth of another person again. Fishburne gets to be the hardass mentor that he does so well, and he has a great sarcastic line when the CIA chiefs realize that Charlie has gone off on his own and he says they underestimated him. One of the movie’s best scenes is when Hendo is training Charlie and points out that Charlie is a terrible shot, he can only shoot dummies at point blank range, and can’t pull the trigger on a person.

There is decent action in The Amateur, even if it slow rolls it a bit too much at the start. But eventually there’s cool bits like when Charlie poisons a villain in a chamber, or when he blows up an above ground pool, or when he tells some guy he can survive if he jumps (those last two bits are all over the ads). And while the finale isn’t an intense shoot-em-up, it does have dramatic glowering between Malek and Stuhlbarg. While the pieces of this film have been done before, and in better movies, it is still enjoyable to watch a spy craft revenge thriller pop up again with an intense lead performance. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it too much.