Entertaining spy story thrusts a "Guy in the Chair" type into the middle of the action
The Amateur offers a clever spin on a classic, globetrotting thriller thanks to its title character. It’s easy to cheer for officebound CIA cryptographer Charles Heller (Rami Malek), who transforms from Guy in a Chair to agent of retribution in the wake of his wife’s murder. It’s as though Q suddenly took center stage in a James Bond film – and yes, it’s funny that Malek played an actual Bond villain, given that 007 gets referenced along the way.
The story kicks off when Heller’s wife, Sarah (Rachel Brosnahan), takes a trip overseas, only to be killed when she gets swept up in a hostage crisis. After deciding his bosses aren’t doing enough to track down the culprits, Heller takes matters into his own hands – despite his lack of combat and field-work training. To work from a different secret-agent reference point: He’s MacGyver with a Vengeance, relying on ingenuity, intelligence, and resourcefulness to avenge Sarah’s death, rather than conventionally violent means.
Commendably, The Amateur doesn’t rush through Heller’s transformation into a skilled killer. When he tries to use a gun, he’s a terrible shot; even his most darkly clever plans have a notable learning curve, and we see him make some big mistakes early on. Malek’s innately introspective, thoughtful demeanor makes him a good fit for this type of role, though there are a couple of moments where it feels like he’s perhaps too introspective and some more overt emotions would feel appropriate. But when he’s, say, calmly and coldly laying out the intricate details of a bad guy’s impending doom, he sells us on Heller’s damaged psyche.
Among the supporting cast, Laurence Fishburne is, per usual, terrific, bringing just the right world-weary, seen-it-all attitude to his character, an old-school spy initially tasked with trying to train Heller as much as possible before going on a different journey as the story continues. Holt McCallany and Julianne Nicholson are also a lot of fun as Heller’s superiors at the CIA, engaging in a subtle showdown over what this rogue cryptographer is doing and the events that led up to it. It makes for an entertaining subplot.
The Amateur Gallery
Unfortunately, Brosnahan’s few scenes stick her with the thankless role of Heller’s Manic Pixie Dead Wife; another accomplished actor lost in the mix is Jon Bernthal, playing a badass field agent who seems like he’ll play a more significant part in Heller’s saga than he ultimately does. Better served is Outlander’s Caitríona Balfe, who is given the opportunity to convey loss and empathy as an ally Heller finds along the way – one whose own tragic past forges a connection between them.
Heller’s plot, and how he executes it, feels realistic within the larger-than-life world of spycraft depicted by director James Hawes and screenwriters Ken Nolan and Gary Spinelli (and based on Robert Littell’s novel of the same name). Hawes does a good job of evoking an appealing, throwback spy/espionage story that engagingly cuts between Heller’s journey around the world and its ramifications back home. Nolan and Spinelli, meanwhile, take the spine of Littell’s story and effectively update it for modern times, complete with the use of spy technology that wasn’t possible at the start of the Cold War’s final decade. Their conclusion doesn’t quite hit the mark, but on a whole, The Amateur is a well-told tale of what happens when you push a spy’s tech-savvy support too far.
Verdict
The Amateur feels like a welcome variation on the kind of “guy on the run” espionage movies we got regularly back in the '90s. It mixes the throwback feel of an old-school spy story with an engaging scenario about a tech-savvy CIA analyst thrust into the field for decidedly dark reasons. The direction and a strong cast help sell this vibe and make for an entertaining time, even if it comes to a less-than-satisfying conclusion.