A One Mann’s Movies review of “The Amateur” (2025).
There have been two trailers this year that have made me go “WOW… I really want to see that”. The first was for the Munich terrorist film “September 5” and in that case, the film delivered. The other was for “The Amateur” and sadly, the best bits of the film are in the trailer (and spoilers at that).
“The Amateur” is a remake of a 1981 film starring John Savage, which I’ve not seen but I’d like to. Because the concept of the film (based on a novel by Robert Littell, who also co-wrote the 1981 screenplay) is a good one that has great potential.
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
“The Amateur” Plot:
Charlie Heller (Rami Malek) is a CIA nerd working on floor minus-5 of a building in Langley. He’s the geek’s geek but brilliant at what he does. But when his wife Sarah (Rachel Brosnahan) is killed in a terrorist incident in London, Charlie goes on a mission of revenge… but without possessing a “certain set of skills”.
Certification:
UK: 12A; US: PG-13. (From the BBFC web site: “Moderate violence, threat, language”)
Talent:
Starring: Rami Malek, Rachel Brosnahan, Jon Bernthal, Julianne Nicholson, Holt McCallany, Michael Stuhlbarg, Laurence Fishburne, CaitrÃona Balfe.
Directed by: James Hawes.
Written by: Ken Nolan & Gary Spinelli. (From the novel by Robert Littell.).
Running Time: 2h 3m.
“The Amateur” Summary:
Positives:
- Rami Malek is excellent.
- Glossy locations.
- The story has a lot of promise.
Negatives:
- The film just doesn’t work on so many levels: a confusing script with characters who’s motives seem constantly in flux.
- A trailer full of spoilers.
- CIA ethics don’t age well during the reign of the Orange Buffoon.
Review of “The Amateur”:
A film that disappointed at so many levels.
Arrrrggghhhh! As I stated in my intro, the trailer promised so much potential. The central tenet of the film is so good: that a nobody techy can use turn avenging angel, using his nerdy skills to outwit the CIA and dispatch a bunch of bad guys. Like “John Wick”, but if the wife was a dog and Keanu Reeves didn’t go to the gym for 6 months. We zip through multiple exotic (and some less exotic) locations: Paris, Marseilles, Istanbul. And all of that is there in the film… its just delivered in such an unsatisfactory way.
Spoiler trailer.
A big gripe is with the trailer which gives too much away. There are a couple of money shots in the film, concerned with the dispatch of the bad guys, both of which are in the trailer. Now, it turns out that there are only four bad guys to dispatch in the whole film: so that’s a 50% spoiler rate from the trailer. It also unnecessarily gives away some nice use of tech by Charlie that I would have enjoyed seeing through the film.
A disjointed screenplay.
The screenplay is also confusing and disjointed.
- Laurence Fishburne seems to be channelling “Matrix” Morpheus vibes as Charlie’s CIA helper/not-helper General Henderson. But he seems to flip-flop with his allegiance in a way I found very confusing. A hotel fight with another CIA guy still has me confused.
- Some scenes make no logical sense at all. In one scene, a bad guy has triggered a bomb switch with Charlie (Malek) calmly talking to him from across a warehouse. The baddie’s henchman runs off. Charlie seems completely unconcerned that the henchman might – you know – come in the back door and smash him around the head!
- In an even more ridiculous finale, chief baddie Schiller (a bearded Michael Stuhlbarg) does something so UTTERLY RIDICULOUS with a gun that I desperately wanted to give the scriptwriters a damn good shaking.
- Rachel Brosnahan is very believable as Charlie’s cute wife Sarah. But she drifts in and out of post-death scenes like Marley’s ghost.
- Jon Bernthal is a CIA called “The Bear” who is Charlie’s Langley buddy, then randomly appears late in the film for no readily apparent reason, then buggers off again: a random visitation.
Malek is superb.
Which is all really annoying, since I found Rami Malek really great in the role. He has such an unusual and angular face that he can put al lot of emotion into his scenes. When he first learns of his wife’s death, I was genuinely moved by his performance.
Elsewhere, I also enjoyed Catriona Balfe (the mother in “Belfast” if, like me, you were desperately trying to remember where you’d seen her). She plays Inquiline, a shadowy online contact helpt Charlie for no readily obvious reason I could discern (other than putting herself in mortal danger).
A sad fact.
It’s sad that we are in an age where ethics and decency seem so out of place in the higher levels of US politics. I’m sure when the script was written, with President Biden in power, a scene in the film with CIA director O’Brien (Julianne Nicholson) declaring total transparancy and a war on ethical wrongdoing seemed all fair and reasonable. Now, with the Orange Buffoon in the White House, it feels one of the most laughably naiive things in the whole movie.
Summary Thoughts on “The Amateur”
A real disappointment. A concept and a star that promised so much, let down by a poor script and a truly ridiculous damp-squib of an ending.
Where to Watch it (Powered by Justwatch)
Trailer for “The Amateur”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzVs5owEeWk.
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