The Amateur movie review: Overstuffed Rami Malek tale of revenge fails to satisfy

They are also hopelessly underused, barring Malek who as the protagonist must soldier on through grief (very, very awkwardly), to anger (faltingly) to finally revenge (Web hath no fury like a decryptor scorned). As a backroom, or rather five floors-underground, CIA staffer used to operating in the shadows, his Charlie Heller is thrust into the role of an unlikely avenger when his wife Sarah (Brosnahan) becomes the collateral victim of a big arms deal gone wrong.

The deal has links to CIA black ops, in a roundabout way, and so in an even more roundabout way, Charlie sets forth to find Sarah’s killers. He tells his boss Moore (McCallany) to let him kill the assassins or he would spill their dirty deeds from Afghanistan. Before that, Charlie also wants the CIA to “train me for the job”.

The Amateur movie trailer:

If that sounds as crazy as it can get, who should be there to dole out the training but battle-hardened Captain Henderson (Fishburne)?

For the rest, what you only need to know is that the CIA is as good as using hacking devices and facial ID tech to trace Charlie, as it is inept at holding onto him – which is what keeps this film ticking, of course, till its inexorable end.

More than one person wants to talk to Charlie about the pointlessness and morality of revenge. And more than once the CIA chief (Nicholson) says she wants the Agency to turn over a new leaf – all about openness and clean slates.

Earlier, when Moore asks Charlie if he has seen the news – and this is because of his wife’s killing – Charlie says no, stressing: “I am yet to find an outlet I can trust.”

Given the climate in Washington, maybe the filmmakers should have relied on a more newsy source than a novel (by Robert Littell) from 40 years ago.

The Amateur movie cast: Rami Malek, Laurence Fishburne, Rachel Brosnahan, Jon Bernthal, Julianne Nicholson, Holt McCallany
The Amateur movie director: James Hawes
The Amateur movie rating: 1.5 stars