The Amateur movie review: Rami Malek, Michael Stuhlbarg starrer is a woebegone thriller

Still from the film

Cast: Rami Malek, Michael Stuhlbarg, Laurence Fishburne, Rachel Brosnahan, Jon Bernthal, Holt McCallany, Julianne Nicholson, Evan Milton
Director: James Hawes
Rating: 2/5
Runtime: 123 min.

"The Amateur" has an ordinary man doing extraordinary things. It's a spy thriller but the character in the center of it all, Charles (played by Rami Malek) doesn't have the personality to make it believable. The narrative here merely goes through the motions of trying to make things believable but the story is so outlandish that its hard to suspend your disbelief even for a short while.

He works for the CIA but as a lowly decoder(akin to a desk job), is nerdy and has little time for fun and games. Then his life gets turned upside down when his wife is killed in a London terrorist attack. The grief stricken guy wants revenge but his top bosses are not obliging, so he has to find a way to do the deed himself. It's a far-fetched cock and bull story that we've seen umpteen times and in a far more believable fashion. This one fails to work up any conviction or steam as it chalks up its kills en route to achieving Charles goals.

Rami Malek looks far too puny and ineffective as a CIA data analyst turned assassin Charles Heller, whose wife Sarah (Rachel Brosnahan) is taken hostage and murdered while on a trip to London.

Even though the narrative tries hard to convince us about the legitimacy of his sudden new found abilities it's an impossible ask. Heller knows about behind the scenes shenanigans regarding international incidents and has recently discovered that a U.S.-led drone attack was changed into a suicide bombing to sell it to the world. He uses this knowledge to blackmail his superiors, the CIA Deputy Director (Holt McCallany) and the top-boss played by Julianne Nicholson. He demands to be trained as a CIA field operative, is assigned Robert Henderson (Laurence Fishburne) as his mentor and then heads overseas in his quest for vigilante justice. But the CIA realizes he's gone rogue and chases him themselves. How he outsmarts them thereafter and wreaks his revenge, forms the crux of this story.

Rachel Brosnahan,Caitriona Balfe, Michael Stuhlbarg, Jon Bernthal are wasted in forgettable roles. The worst thing is we just don't identify with Malek's Heller. How he gets the money and the skills to criss-cross the world and wreak havoc, the way he does, is up in the air. The narrative throws up questions that we don't find answers to. Will an ordinary man really go far out to avenge his wife's murder ? Could you suddenly become skilled to be able to take lives?

This spy thriller is neither stylish nor does it have any substance that thrills. There's tension skimming along the surface but it doesn't sustain for long. The plot is hare brained, there's no strong foundation for the action that takes place and there's no real action set-piece to take your mind off the deficiencies thereof. Shallow characters and ludicrous plotting hamper the enjoyment here.