Rami Malek Gets His Bond On

Rami Malek goes from meek cryptographer to deadly assassin in literally 10 minutes of screen time in The Amateur, a wholly implausible revenge thriller adapted from the classic novel by Robert Littell. The film is loaded with top-tier talent, globetrotting murders, and nifty visual effects, but requires a heaping suspension of disbelief in a predictable narrative where every puzzle and character falls neatly into place. There’s never any doubt about the outcome, but you do enjoy cold-blooded mercenaries getting their lethal comeuppance. Let’s just say our angry protagonist gets creative in ruthless retribution.

Charles Heller (Malek) tinkers in his garage while his beloved wife gets ready for an overseas trip to London. Sarah (Rachel Brosnahan) makes sure the fastidious Charlie has lists to keep the house in order. They kiss goodbye before Charlie starts his day as a senior cryptographer working deep in the bowels of the CIA’s Langley, Virginia headquarters. Charlie goes through several intensive security scans before opening a top-secret message.

Boy Meets Girl, Girl Blows Up, Boy Seeks Vengeance

The Amateur

2.5
/5

Release Date

April 11, 2025

Director

James Hawes

Writers

Gary Spinelli

Pros & Cons

• Creative visual effects depict the surveillance state.
• Malek and Brosnahan have good first act chemistry.

• A predictable plot has no surprises.
• The protagonist loses charisma as the story progresses.

A covert operative has sent a trove of messages for his eyes only. Charlie wonders where in the world this mysterious figure might be as he unlocks extremely sensitive information. A knock on his door from a grave-faced Deputy Director Alex Moore (Holt McCallany) catches Charlie off guard. No, he hasn’t been watching the news. Moore leads Charlie to the office of Director Samantha O’Brien (Julianne Nicholson). She delivers tragic news. Sarah has been executed in a terrorist attack. Charlie can’t believe the footage of her last moments.

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He gets to work using every tool at his disposal to unmask the killers. Charlie brings his findings to Moore, but gets rebuffed. He’s told to take some time to recover and talk to the psychologists, and that the CIA will bring Sarah’s murderers to justice. That’s not good enough for Charlie. He wants to personally terminate the fiends. Train him for the job, or he’ll release the CIA’s darkest secrets.

From IT Geek to CIA Killer

The Amateur has a good first act. Charlie is socially awkward and introverted. He attempts to be friendly, but is better served behind a keyboard. The beautiful Sarah was his entire world. You can see his inability to process her loss, forging into a cold mission for justice. Malek gives Charlie purpose in a calculating and efficient way. He doesn’t fit the stereotype of a textbook black ops agent, but has highly useful skills and can think abstractly.

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The Amateur begins to deviate from its initially tightly scripted exposition. Laurence Fishburne co-stars as Col. Robert Henderson, the man assigned to train Charlie. He knows Charlie’s motivation but believes the skinny IT nerd doesn’t have a chance in hell to pull this off. Charlie’s a dead man in the field. He just has to keep him occupied until Moore’s team can figure out how Charlie hid the incriminating files. This training session is laughably short. It’s only eclipsed by Charlie’s escape from digital surveillance, which should be impossible, but he somehow avoids electronic detection at every turn.

A Top-Tier Cast

Director James Hawes, known for his episodic British TV work (Doctor Who, Penny Dreadful, Slow Horses) and the recent Anthony Hopkins film One Life, uses on-screen visual effects to show the technology tracking Charlie’s movements and his tactics to counter Henderson. The wheels get wobbly because everyone inexplicably finds their target. Then the requisite cat-and-mouse chase takes place when our daring hero had been totally incognito mere seconds before. They know exactly where Charlie is and what he’s doing; they try to stop him with their ridiculous resources, and yet he slips away like a greasy ferret. This doesn’t make any sense at all.

Malek’s evolution of Charlie’s character saps his charisma. The rub is whether Charlie can actually go through with his bloody plan. Michael Stuhlbarg, the fleeting villain, has a great monologue about having the guts to end a life up close. You have to get your hands dirty. This transformation is supposed to have the audience questioning Charlie’s fading humanity. Has the geeky sweetness that Sarah loved been completely extinguished? The answer is obvious as the body count stacks up, so there are really no internal conflicts or ethical dilemmas to debate.

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Brosnahan is seen in the opening, during the assault in computerized recreations, and as a ghostly vision in Charlie’s memories. Hawes gets stylistic credit for keeping her present throughout the film. It’s a reminder that needed a bit more depth to truly tug on your heartstrings. Malek and Brosnahan have good chemistry in the beginning, but you don’t feel that with brief glances later on. Hawes should have added more flashbacks of their time together as a couple or extended the opening.

The Amateur gets mechanical with Charlie checking every box on his deadly to-do list. He’s not James Bond or Jason Bourne, but somehow gets the same results in the practical application part of the test. This honestly isn’t convincing, as baddies seemingly line up for slaughter. Skeptics will find this one tough to swallow. They’ll be able to poke holes in the plot like Swiss cheese. I just accepted the premise, cheered for the righteous cause, and got a kick out of the cool espionage gadgets. From Hutch Parker Entertainment, The Amateur will be in theaters on April 11, 2025, from 20th Century Studios.