The Amateur (12A)

Charles Heller works in the CIA's decryption and analysis department in Langley. One of his contacts provides damning evidence of wrongdoing within the hallowed halls of the CIA. Soon after, his wife Sarah is killed in a terrorist outrage in London. Tapping into security cameras protecting the English capital, Charles uses facial recognition software to identify Sarah's killers. CIA superiors are reluctant to act, so Charles takes matters into his own hands.

LondonNet Film Review

The Amateur (12A) Film Review from LondonNet

Grief warps a mild-mannered widower into a hardened assassin in a slow-burning espionage thriller directed by James Hawes, based on Robert Littrell’s 1981 novel which has already been filmed with John Savage in the title role. This glossy new iteration of The Amateur written by Ken Nolan and Gary Spinelli trades the Cold War setting of the original for the drone warfare and hi-tech surveillance of the modern era, and casts Oscar winner Rami Malek as the brilliant cryptographer who wreaks havoc in the name of love lost…

Many of the well-executed action sequences are spoilt, annoyingly, in the trailer, so there will be few surprises if you have already sifted through the two-minute promo for Hawes’ picture. The central character’s murky morality becomes increasingly unpalatable when innocent bystanders risk becoming collateral damage. Malek’s nuanced performance ramps up the social awkwardness. Coupled with his physical slightness compared to a traditional action hero, it’s relatable when one CIA superior taunts him by suggesting a 90-year-old nun could beat him in an arm-wresting match.

Alas, Hawes does not treat us to some sinew-straining muscle flexing in a wimple. Instead, he sets pacing to pedestrian as the globe-trotting plot blesses Malek’s vengeful spouse with excessive good fortune to single-handedly bring down a hardened criminal network without a big sleep in a hospital bed or on a mortuary slab. I guess that’s what they mean by beginner’s luck.

Charles Heller (Malek) works in the CIA’s decryption and analysis department in Langley, and reports to deputy director Alex Moore (Holt McCallany). One of Charles’s contacts (Caitriona Balfe) provides damning evidence of wrongdoing within the hallowed halls of the CIA. Soon after, his wife Sarah (Rachel Brosnahan) is killed in a terrorist outrage in London. Tapping into security cameras protecting the English capital, Charles uses facial recognition software to identify Sarah’s killers led by Sean Schiller (Michael Stuhlbarg).

Director Moore is reluctant to act, so Charles takes matters into his own hands. He defies CIA protocols to gain mission-specific training under veteran operative Robert Henderson (Laurence Fishburne) so can murder Schiller and his associates. “You can’t do what I do no matter how much I train you. You’re just not a killer,” Henderson warns his protege. Charles’s revenge mission risks an international incident and newly-installed CIA director Samantha O’Brien (Julianne Nicholson) is compelled to act.

The Amateur recounts a simple tear-stained storyline as a series of stakeouts, chases and explosive final reckonings which lack the urgency that would surely befit a man on the run from the CIA. Malek keeps us at arm’s length from his would-be soldier, so it’s difficult to be wholeheartedly invested in his daredevil odyssey, or care if he makes it to the end credits with air in his lungs. Hawes’s film never comes close to being out of breath.

– Jo Planter