The Amateur (2025) 20th Century/Action-Thriller RT: 123 minutes Rated PG-13 (some strong violence and language) Director: James Hawes Screenplay: Ken Nolan and Gary Spinelli Music: Volker Bertelmann Cinematography: Martin Ruhe Release date: April 11, 2025 (US) Cast: Rami Malek, Laurence Fishburne, Rachel Brosnahan, Caitriona Balfe, Michael Stuhlbarg, Holt McCallany, Julianne Nicholson, Danny Sapani, Jon Bernthal, Adrian Martinez, Takehiro Hira, Marc Rissmann, Joseph Millson, Barbara Probst, Alice Hewkin.
Rating: ***
I guess I shouldn’t be shocked by the number of people who don’t know that The Amateur is a remake. The original 1981 film, adapted from the novel by Robert Littell, was neither a critical nor a commercial success. The folks I’ve mentioned it to either don’t remember it or weren’t even born when it came out. Me, of course I remember it, I’m Movie Guy 24/7. It’s one of my Hidden Treasures.
Rami Malek (No Time to Die) takes over the role originally played by John Savage. Meek CIA analyst Charlie Heller is blind-sided when he learns his wife Sarah (Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) has been killed by terrorists while on a business trip in London. Her death was the result of an illegal arms deal gone wrong. He wants justice, but the higher-ups at the CIA appear to be dragging their feet. Charlie does what any grieving widower in the CIA would do. He gets something incriminating on his boss Deputy Director Moore (McCallany, The Iron Claw) and uses it to blackmail him.
Charlie wants to kill the four terrorists himself so he threatens to go public with what he knows unless Moore arranges for him to receive special training. He’s sent to a camp where he gets a crash course in Spying 101 from Colonel Henderson (Fishburne, The Matrix). His mentor quickly determines Charlie isn’t capable of killing. The guy can’t even hit a target unless he’s right on top of it. Meanwhile, Moore sends a time to locate the damning evidence against him. When they find it, he double-crosses Charlie and tries to have him killed. Luckily, Charlie anticipated this and goes on the run to complete his mission of revenge.
This new version of The Amateur changes up a few things from the OG (technology has changed a lot in 44 years), but it tells the same basic story. Charlie goes globe-hopping in tracking down the four baddies- three guys and a girl- who murdered his wife. His odyssey takes him to London, Paris, Istanbul, Romania and Russia. Along the way, he hooks up with “Inquiline” (Balfe, Belfast), the anonymous source who provided him with the documents incriminating his boss. The widow of a murdered KGB agent, she helps him track down his targets. Meanwhile, he’s being pursued by Henderson still acting on Moore’s orders.
Anybody looking for a Jason Bourne-type spy thriller with all of its kinetic action sequences will be somewhat disappointed by The Amateur. What you need to understand about the protagonist Charlie Heller is that he’s NOT a field agent. He’s a cryptographer who spends his work hours sitting at a computer. To his credit, he’s a genius who knows how to build explosive devices. He might not be capable of shooting somebody, but he can certainly rig a glass rooftop swimming pool to break, heaven help the poor dumb bastard doing laps in it at the time. There is a decent car chase as well as a foot chase that starts in an allergy clinic where Charlie weaponizes pollen in an attempt to gather intel. He never once busts out fight moves that rival the master Bruce Lee. He’s a different kind of action hero.
It would be unfair to dismiss Malek’s performance in The Amateur as miscasting. While he’s definitely an unconventional actor, especially for this type of movie, I can accept him as a cyber-geek genius. He played a similar role in the TV series Mr. Robot. Sure, he doesn’t have the moves of Bourne or the debonair of Bond, but he’s got smarts. Malek makes it almost believable. I say almost because nothing that happens in The Amateur is even remotely believable. It’s all pretty ridiculous actually, but who’s looking for realism here?
Fishburne is good as the mentor, something I say with reverence to Ed Lauter who played the role in the original. Balfe does okay in the role originated by Marthe Keller who actually cameos as a Parisian flower vendor. McCallany is effectively slippery as the bureaucratic baddie always playing the game of CYA- i.e. Cover Your Ass. Julianne Nicholson (Mare of Easttown) has some good scenes as the new CIA director who insists of complete accountability. Jon Bernthal (The Accountant), who plays an imposing field agent, doesn’t get nearly enough to do.
Remakes don’t always turn out well. In fact, most of them suck. I’ll grant that The Amateur falls short of the OG, a Canadian production directed by Charles Jarrott (Anne of the Thousand Days). I’ve seen it a few times over the years and it always entertains. It’s definitely a product of its time- e.g. Czechoslovakia was still a Communist country. This new one is a spy movie for these times. Surveillance is everywhere. There’s not a thing that goes unnoticed by the government. People in agencies manipulate things to fit the narrative that’s best for the greater good. It would have been nice if director James Hawes (One Life) infused the film with a stronger sense of paranoia. Still, it a nifty spy thriller that should please adults looking for a two-hour escape.
