There’s a certain intensity that a spy thriller generally needs to have to be successful. The James Bond movies do this well, as do the Mission: Impossible films. The latest Remi Malek vehicle, The Amateur, tries to add a unique twist to the genre, which seems fun on paper, but the execution failed to land the much-needed intensity a spy film demands.
Table of Contents
The Plot is Unique Enough
The Amateur takes the normal spy film thematic, but uses a code-writer and data analyst as the main character, instead of a traditional field agent. Heller (Remi Malek), loses his wife Sarah (Rachel Brosnahan) during a terrorist-related event. He then takes it upon himself to exact revenge on her killers, despite lacking the training, or necessary talent to do so.
The Performances are Convincing
At a base level The Amateur works well enough. Malek is very convincing as a code-writer who is not particularly physical, and doesn’t even have the ability to properly learn how to be a good field agent. When he is successful, the ways he makes things work also make sense. For the most part it’s believable enough to work in a film.
Jon Bernthal and Laurence Fishburne work well as proper field agents, although Fishburne may be a little too out of shape to be doing some of the things he does in the film. Both actors play well off of Malek, and everyone has good chemistry in their respective scenes. The same goes for all of the hard-nosed CIA directors that Malek’s character has to deal with.
The Action is the Problem
Where the film starts to lose its balance is in the execution. Heller is not a field agent. He gets a small amount of training, but essentially fails at all levels. The events that follow show a progression of Heller getting better and better at being a field agent, using his own unique methods for akin to a data analyst. While this works at first, things are just far too easy for him as the film progresses. There’s minimal friction between Heller and whatever task he needs to accomplish on his revenge tour.
The villains of the film are not defined well enough to really matter to the audience. You’re only meant to care about Heller. But when everything just works out exactly the way it’s planned, with no real issues or wrenches thrown in to keep things interesting, it becomes a rather dull affair. The only intriguing aspect of the latter half of the film is how Heller will get the bad guys. But even that becomes uninteresting long before the final act of the movvie.
The Final Verdict Falls Flat
The Amateur offers an interesting setup for a spy film, but there’s little to keep the audience invested for two full hours. There’s only one twist at the end of the film, but the timing and significance of the twist add little to the proceedings. There’s no one to route for other than Heller, and no obstacles that Heller can’t easily work around. It’s akin to watching a kids spy show where everything just goes according to plan every episode. The result is a fairly average spy film, with a squandered premise.
About The Amateur
Synopsis: When his supervisors at the CIA refuse to take action after his wife is killed in a London terrorist attack, a decoder takes matters into his own hands.
Director: James Hawes
Writers: Ken Nolan, Gary Spinelli
Cast: Rami Malek, Jon Bernthal, Laurence Fishburne, Holt McCallany, Danny Sapani
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 2 Hours, 3 Minutes
Releases: April 11, 2025
Bryan Dawson has been writing professionally since the age of 13. He started his career as a video game writer and has since worked for Random House, Prima Games, DirecTV, IGN, AOL, the British Government, and various other organizations. For GNN, Bryan taps into his passion for movies.
- Bryan Dawsonhttps://geeknewsnetwork.net/author/bdawson1/
- Bryan Dawsonhttps://geeknewsnetwork.net/author/bdawson1/
- Bryan Dawsonhttps://geeknewsnetwork.net/author/bdawson1/
- Bryan Dawsonhttps://geeknewsnetwork.net/author/bdawson1/
