The Amateur
Hidden in the basement of Langley C.I.A. headquarters, Charlie Heller (Rami Malek) is a top notch intelligence analyst untrained in the physical requirements of field ops, but when he is shown evidence that his wife Sarah (Rachel Brosnahan) was killed in a London terrorist attack, he uses intel against his superiors to buck institutional hierarchy and sets out for revenge as "The Amateur."
Laura's Review: B
With the second adaptation of Robert Littell's novel, writers Ken Nolan ("Black Hawk Down") and Gary Spinelli ("American Made") may leave a few holes and hanging plot threads, but director James Hawes ("One Life," TV's 'Slow Horses') and lead Rami Malek deliver a paranoid espionage thriller elevated by the psychology and palpable grief of its protagonist. The production, which jumps from Langley to London, from Spain to Istanbul with a Gulf of Finland climax, sparkles, cinematographer Martin Ruhe ("The American," "The Midnight Sky") keeping close to Heller as he navigates a 3D chess board accompanied by Volker Bertelmann's pulsating score.
After establishing the loving and playful marriage between the socially awkward and risk averse Charlie and his more gregarious and adventurous wife who is headed to London for five days, something which dismays him even as he turns down her offer to accompany her, Charlie heads to his Langley office where his mysterious contact, Inquiline, sends him documents which are described as potentially dangerous for his agency. They are orders, signed by
Director Moore (Holt McCallany, TV's 'Mindhunters'), to bomb targets including a hospital, civilians and allies. The next day Charlie arrives at work to find Moore in his office, but he and agency Director O'Brien (Julianne Nicholson, "Janet Planet") must break the awful news of his wife's fate, insisting the analyst take some time away to grieve.
This Charlie does, receiving Sarah's body at the airport and breaking down over the things in her suitcase, including 'a puzzle for my puzzle,' an intended gift of an elaborate metal contraption. But Heller rebels against the idea of his wife's death being forgotten and surprises Moore and his cohort Caleb (Danny Sapani, Black Panther") with a presentation that identifies her killers using his technical prowess, demanding that they act. When he's fobbed off with vague assurances, Charlie informs them of what he knows and the deadman switch he's devised to release the information to the media unless they procure him the training to go out into the field and execute Sarah's killers. They decide to humor him, sending him to retired Colonel Henderson (Laurence Fishburne) to give them time to trace his switch, but Charlie has an unknown ally in O'Brien, who has begun to look into Moore based on her own suspicions.
Of course, everyone will underestimate Charlie because on their own preconception of what a C.I.A. field op's talents should be and Heller's inability to pull a trigger is seen as his biggest obstacle. That does not excuse one of the film's flimsiest constructs, Charlie watching a 'how to pick a lock' video on his phone as he tries to gain access to his first target's apartment undetected. But even when his method of offing her doesn't pan out, it's awfully ingenious and the ensuing chaos ensures him his result. He'll be far more effective going up against Mishka Blazhic (Marc Rissmann) in perhaps the film's best set piece, followed by a three-way chase scene, Heller remotely guided by Inquiline, the secret operative he'd been trying to identify only to be surprised with who he found, someone, as it turns out, motivated by a grief similar to his own. His final showdown with Horst Schiller (Michael Stuhlbarg, "A Serious Man," "Call Me By Your Name") is less about explosive action than intense acting, one man challenging the other with quiet, if somewhat uneasy, fortitude, only to be outwitted, once again, by Heller's technological skills.
Malek is really good here, his angsty techno geek clinging on to Sarah like a lifeline, her loss dramatically unmooring him. We can see he feels somewhat out of his element once in the field, but that 170 IQ that's been assigned to his character gives him an unusual advantage that builds his confidence, something we also see reflected in Henderson's frustrated but growing admiration. There is something like regret in his eyes when he witnesses the first death he's caused, and he's moving as says goodbye to an ally killed trying to help him, another good performance from an actor it would be a spoiler to reveal. McCallany is obviously up to no good, his cocky arrogance a major tip off to the more measured Nicholson. The script drops Jon Bernthal in awkwardly, a field agent who owes Heller his life, but shows up in the third act to little purpose.
"The Amateur" may gloss over details of Heller's ornate schemes, but they're delivered with a gleaming sheen, avoiding such tropes as glowing green computer screens. It's a good vehicle for the former Mr. Robot, and the last minute reemergence of a character we'd been led to believe was dead hints that we may be seeing more of Charlie Heller.
20th Century Studios releases "The Amateur" in theaters on 4/11/25.
