The Amateur (2025) – Review

Quick Thoughts:

• Grade – C+
• The core idea is solid, but the adaptation of Robert Littell’s 1981 novel of the same name packs way too much into its 123-minute running time.
• Between Rami Malek, Rachel Brosnahan, Jon Bernthal, Laurence Fishburne, Caitríona Balfe, Michale Stuhlbarg, Holt McCallany and Julianne Nicholson, the cast is stacked.
• It’s boring to say but this would’ve worked better as an eight-episode TV season because there is a lot of cool stuff that would work better with more time
• I’d happily watch Malek engage in more CIA shenanigans
• It’s nice seeing The Pacific reunion between Bernthal and Malek

Produced by and starring Rami Malek, The Amateur should’ve been a fun showcase for Malek to showcase his physical prowess and action chops. Instead, the adapted screenplay from Ken Nolan and Gary Spinelli loads the film with conspiracies, globe-trotting adventures, mysterious hackers, dead wives, rakish spies, assassins, good Russians, bad Russians, good CIA employees, bad CIA employees, hacked computers, chase scenes, bathroom explosions, mourning periods, the Finnish navy, stages of grief, and Laurence Fishburne popping up all over the world. It’s a lot.

The 2025 film wisely ditches a few of the elements from the 1981 book (EG – vengeance has therapeutic characteristics), but it should’ve laser-focused on the exploits of CIA cryptographer Charles “Charlie” Heller (Rami Malek), a brilliant hacker with an IQ of 170 who goes on a mission to murder the people who killed his wife Sarah (Rachel Brosnahan). The unique twist is that Charlie has zero combat training and his slight build doesn’t do him any favors while tussling with burly mercenaries. This means that Charlie has to rely on his computer skills and brains to hunt down the four people who killed his wife – while going through the five stages of grief. It’s a tough task made tougher by the fact that his corrupt CIA boss Director Moore, (Holt McCallany) hires a field operative trainer named Henderson (Laurence Fishburne) to hunt Charlie down because his revenge mission unearthed incriminating evidence that could lead back to Moore. From there, a lot of story happens and it takes away from the swimming pool explosions. 

The idea of a brilliant guy with zero fighting skills traveling the globe to kill hardened soldiers is pretty great. However, The Amateur plays things a little too seriously and only comes alive when Charlie does things like subverting the “walking in slow-motion away from explosions” trope by comically flinching when an explosion goes off behind him (He credits Heath Ledger’s Joker performance in The Dark Knight for the flinch). The highlight of the film happens inside a Parisian allergy clinic and features Charlie being rag-dolled around the facility by a female mercenary who isn’t happy about the pollen bomb Charlie unleashed on her. There are no Jason Bourne-esque theatrics, instead, the trained killer (with a severe allergic reaction) kicks, flips, punches and knees her way out of the building and leaves Charlie trailing behind her. It’s also fun watching Laurence Fishburne’s character Henderson using minimal effort to keep up with Charlie during a foot chase because he keeps plowing into nightclub patrons, bystanders and anything else in the Paris streets.

The biggest problem with The Amateur is that there are way too many actors taking screen time away from Malek’s adventure. The cast is stacked, but when you have Rachel Brosnahan, Jon Bernthal, Laurence Fishburne, Caitríona Balfe, Danny Sapani, Alice Hewkin, Michael Stuhlbarg, Holt McCallany and Julianne Nicholson fighting for screen time, not all of their characters will get the time they need to be anything more than one-dimensional problems. The director James Hawes knows his way around the spy genre as he’s directed six episodes of the excellent Apple+ show Slow Horses. However, he doesn’t put enough of his personality into The Amateur and the result feels a bit bland.  The technical highlight is the cinematography by Martin Ruhe (Control, The American, Harry Brown), who knows how to create interesting frames in dimly lit sub-basements and Paris nightclubs. Ruhe is no amateur and his work gives the film a classy vibe that is always visually interesting. 

The Amateur is the type of film that would’ve played well on cable in the 1990s and 2000s, and the fact that a Rami Malek action film is getting a big theatrical push is great. However, when adapting the 1981 book it would’ve been nice if the writers took a step back and focused on what was important (Malek getting tossed around).