Want to hear more from the actors and creators of your favorite shows and films? Subscribe to The Cinema Spot on YouTube for all of our upcoming interviews!
Sometimes I write things, but mostly I watch movies.
The Amateur is the second adaptation of the Robert Littell’s novel of the same name. This time, it is directed by James Hawes (One Life, Slow Horses) with a screenplay provided by Ken Nolan (Black Hawk Down, Transformers: The Last Knight) and Gary Spinelli (American Made).
The cast features Rami Malek (Mr. Robot, Bohemian Rhapsody), Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Superman), Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix, Man of Steel, John Wick: Chapter 4), Caitríona Balfe (Outlander), Julianne Nicholson (Paradise), Holt McCallany (Mindhunter, The Iron Claw), and Jon Bernthal (The Walking Dead, The Accountant, The Punisher, The Bear, Daredevil: Born Again).
The Amateur follows CIA Analyst Charlie Heller (Malek) as he goes rogue to avenge his wife Sarah Horowitz’s (Brosnahan) death in a terrorist attack since the Central Intelligence Agency refuses to take action. As he goes rogue, he must contend with CIA Deputy Director Alex Moore (McCallany) and Colonel Robert Henderson (Fishburne), who attempt to stop him while protecting their own interests.
Rami Malek is The Amateur
At the center of the film is Malek in his first leading role since his Academy Award win for Best Actor in 2019. It’s almost a rite of passage at this point for Academy Award winners to get a starring role in their own action film to see if they can potentially carry a franchise or if their appeal translates to other genres. With that in mind, Malek is perfectly fine in the role. He’s doing the awkward, anxious shtick that he does in many of his roles, such as Mr. Robot or Oppenheimer. The role is serviceable, gets the job done, and helps differentiate this film.
While most spy thrillers feature ultra-competent characters who don’t falter in the face of danger, Malek as Charlie is constantly on the back foot and underestimated. Both the audience and the other characters in the film learn to see this character for being more than meets the eye. Even as Charlie gets more competent and dangerous, Malek gives the character a constant feeling of unease and guilt that make him feel a little more relatable than most spy thriller protagonists.
Suffice it to say, the performance is fun to watch, but it’s nothing to write home about.
Supporting Characters
In terms of the supporting characters, the only notable ones in The Amateur are McCallany as Moore and Fishburne as Henderson. Moore is more present at the start of the film as Charlie’s boss, and he’s quite fun to watch. McCallany is great at playing this type of stern, no-nonsense government man.
The same is true of Fishburne’s character. Henderson initially trains Charlie before becoming the man trying to stop him. Again, it’s a fine performance but one that Fishburne has done several times before. This is emblematic of the entire film. Viewers have seen pretty much everything in this film before. Although, it’s all done competently enough to be worth watching.
Lack of Female Character Agency
Perhaps the biggest flaw of The Amateur is the lack of female characters and the presentation of the ones who are present. The driving force behind the film is the death of Charlie’s wife, Sarah. Portrayed by the lovely Brosnahan, we are told constantly by the movie that “she mattered”. This is true of Charlie, but she’s barely present to the audience. There’s no indication of who she was or what she did other than being Charlie’s loving wife. She is not a character but rather a plot device.
Balfe portrays an associate of Charlie’s who provides him intel and assists in his quest for revenge. She gets a little more depth than Sarah. Ultimately, she works more like a plot device to further Charlie’s grief than as a character. The only other major female character is CIA Director Samantha O’Brien, portrayed by Nicholson. Of the major female characters, she is the only one who isn’t used as a means to motivate Charlie. Though, she isn’t much of a character either, just someone who occasionally shows up to move the plot along.
None of this is atypical for the genre, and most of it is done well enough. Yet, one would hope that in our more modern era, the screenwriters behind this adaptation would do a little more to modernize it beyond just the setting and technology available.
Pacing, Production Designs, and More
The other big issue with The Amateur is pacing. The movie runs a little over two hours, and for the most part, it moves along quite well. However, at several points it does feel as if the movie is wallowing a little too much in its tone. It’s never enough to ruin the film totally, but by the end, you do feel the runtime weighing on you. It is appreciated that it spends a good forty minutes or so setting up the characters and stakes, and yet, it feel like a lot of the action gets saved for the film’s back half.
While the pacing can be somewhat frustrating, production designer Maria Djurkovic’s set pieces are excellent. Everything looks slick and clean. It all contributes to the tone and the overall spy feeling. Director of Photography Martin Ruhe does an admirable job of making it all coalesce and feel quite cinematic. Moving on, all of costume designer Martin Ware’s outfitting are simple yet feel appropriate for the characters.
When it comes to the score by music composer Volker Bertelmann (All Quiet on the Western Front, The Crow remake, Conclave), it’s kind of forgettable, but in the movie itself, it works well enough. The score never feels out of place, and at the same time, it never enhances the film.
Good Action and Setpieces
One thing that the film does excel at is its action and set pieces. Unfortunately, Djurkovic’s biggest set piece involving Charlie destroying a pool is featured in all the trailers. With that said, all the others are quite good, too. It’s nice that they all are relatively small in scale. All are executed quite well, there is always a sense of tension, and the payoff for all of them is satisfying. There are relatively few traditional action scenes, given the nature of Charlie, but the ones that do exist are done well enough and help keep the film fresh.
The Verdict on The Amateur
The Amateur is not winning any awards, but provides some solid entertainment and thrills. It feels like the kind of movie that audiences don’t get much of anymore, and if you enjoy good spy thrillers or want to watch something made for adults, then give The Amateur a shot.
Score: 3.5/5
The Amateur releases in theaters on April 11th!
Be sure to check back with The Cinema Spot for more spy thriller reviews! And check out our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky, and Letterboxd pages!
Looking to get into the source material? Well, you’re in luck; pick up a physical copy of The Amateur by Robert Littell via our Amazon Affiliates link!
Sometimes I write things, but mostly I watch movies.
