As long as it’s served….revenge under the right circumstances is usually pretty palatable…

The Amateur while maybe not the flash bang piece of cinema that some audiences may hope for is ultimately a slick and enjoyable throwback to the days when spy movies happened mostly via talking and not about what airplane you may have to strap yourself too as it takes off.

Charlie Heller (Rami Malek) is a brilliant, but deeply introverted decoder for the CIA working out of a basement office at headquarters in Langley whose life is turned upside down when his wife (Rachel Brosnahan) is killed in a London terrorist attack. When his supervisors refuse to take action, he takes matters into his own hands, embarking on a dangerous trek across the globe to track down those responsible, his intelligence serving as the ultimate weapon for eluding his pursuers and achieving his revenge.

Think 3 Days of The Condor with more modern sensibilities attached to it when thinking about The Amateur.  It may not have the political intrigue of the genre that we got used to in the 70’s or even the flat out action of the modern era, but it allows for just enough elements to seep through on both ends as we see a man with a unique set of skills try to make sense of the tragic death of his wife.

It makes sense that director James Hawes was actually behind the camera for the first season of Apple TV+ Slow Horses because we ultimately get a very similar style unfolding here.  Nothing is too rushed and nothing gets slogged into oblivion by useless exposition, it all gets on with itself pretty efficiently.  The action set pieces are well done and we’re effectively placed in the shoes of our hero protagonist who is ever so slightly out of his element…or is he?

The script effectively rights Rami Malek’s character Charlie as a man trying to find logic in a world of espionage and double talk where there really isn’t any as he leverages every situation that he can to the best of his ability.  No one really takes him seriously which is obviously the folly of those in power who are ultimately trying to dismiss him or just get him out of the way.

It’s an incredibly well written character and to his credit Malek knows how to play this guy inside and out.  He’s our protagonist and action hero surrounded by players who for the most part dismiss him and what he’s capable of.

That’s also why Laurence Fishburne as his trainer and foil Henderson was such a great counter point to work against.  As Malek evolved from an office dweeb who could barely shoot to an operative hell bent on doing the right thing, Henderson had to grow to respect him and it’s their interplay in the back half of the film that really makes this piece sing.

While The Amateur won’t quite crack the pantheon of the history of upper tier spy movies, it gets hooked pretty quickly by avoiding so many missteps of the genre by getting us ultimately invested in the human beings navigating these intense situations rather than just leaning on the action and carnage that can surround these situations that play out in the eternal cat & mouse game of espionage.  The Amateur manages to nod to its past while simultaneously acknowledging that bad-asses of the genre are truly the computer nerds behind the desk that we never seen coming.