The Amateur (2025) Review!!

Synopsis – Follows a CIA cryptographer, who manages to blackmail his agency into training him to let him go after a group of terrorist who killed his wife in London.

My Take – While the world waits for Amazon MGM to announce the next James Bond, and Ethan Hunt promising a final reckoning next month, till then we have to make do with this latest vigilante spy thriller by James Hawes, who directed the entire first season of Slow Horses, and is based on the 1981 novel of the same name by Robert Littell, which was previously adapted in 1981 and starred John Savage.

What truly sets this one apart is our bad-guy-hunting hero isn’t a highly trained assassin. He’s actually not even competent with a gun. Instead, he is a “nerdy fella who works on computers”, as one of the characters states about him. Call it a Reverse Jason Bourne.

On paper, it’s an intriguing approach indeed, but sadly, the execution is only semi-successful with result being pleasing enough but deeply conventional.

Operating with more of a steady pulse than a full-on thrill-ride, this spy flick exchanges fists for brains that makes it feel both grounded and visceral, and a stark contrast to the often outlandish action films that have come to dominate the genre. But Hawes’ direction doesn’t reach the level of the potential, as the film, written by Ken Nolan and Gary Spinelli, has a lot going for it, yet, it can’t quite maintain a level of energy and suspense needed to justify its runtime.

Yes, Rami Malek is compelling as an unlikely vigilante, but there is only so much we can listen to conversations about the nature of killing without starting to sound repetitive. Leaving this to be a decent choice to watch considering it’s not a film that lingers or leaves a strong impact. With better writing and emotional grounding, it could have been much more than a moderate experience.

The story follows Charles Heller (Rami Malek), a CIA cryptographer who works on the deep underground floor of Decryption and Analysis division at the George Bush Center for Intelligence at Langley. Simply told, he’s just a guy with a desk job, decrypting sensitive files deep in a sub-basement. However, his life falls apart when his wife, Sarah (Rachel Brosnahan), who was on a business trip to London, is taken hostage and then killed in a terrorist attack.

Distraught and armed with his IT skills, Charles decrypts the identities of the four masked assistants and hands them over to CIA Deputy Director Alex Moore (Holt McCallany) to take swift action. But upon noticing the lack of progress and suspecting a cover-up, he ends up threatening Moore and his closest confidant, Caleb Horowitz (Danny Sapani), about exposing their politically motivated cover-ups.

In exchange, Charles wants them to provide all the necessary tools and training, so he can hunt his wife’s killers himself. Soon, he’s off the grid, trotting around the globe tracking down terrorists one by one in an effort to get to the guy who actually pulled the trigger.

There aren’t many surprises here, but it’s never not enjoyable to watch Charlie figure out what he’s capable of. Additionally, screenwriters Ken Nolan (Black Hawk Down) and Gary Spinelli (American Made) add a sharp sense of dark humor to the film, as Charlie cunningly outsmarts the CIA and leaves them scrambling at every turn.

While the screenplay is familiar, director Hawes avoids excessive melodrama and opts instead for a slow-burn approach that builds steadily as Heller unravels the conspiracy behind his wife’s death.

The narrative is at its best in the first act. Once Charlie commits to going after the killers, the script leans into his naivety and inexperience. Charlie’s training with grizzled retired colonel Henderson (Laurence Fishburne) goes poorly, and he quickly learns that actually getting his hands dirty is going to be much harder than he had imagined, making his reaction’s relatable and realistic.

It helps that throughout his vendetta, Charlie remains, probably for our entertainment, a nerd at best. In the sense, he has to down three tequila shots mid-chase purely to summon up the courage to navigate a club, requires a YouTube video in order to lock-pick a target’s door and even his methods of execution feel like punchlines in their own right, despite the intricate traps he sets for his targets. With the best one being the elaborate sky-pool stunt that marks the film’s flashy high-point.

What’s missing from here is an attempt from director Hawes or the writers to push the story line’s potential. Instead, not only can we predict the film’s narrative, but it also ends on a tired note. The final confrontation with the homicidal mastermind involves a very muddled exchange of views. Charles wishes to maintain his moral superiority, and his antagonist does not challenge him on the subject of the CIA’s culpability over the years.

Even a subplot thread about government accountability involving CIA Deputy Director Moore and his new boss Samantha O’Brien (Julianne Nicholson) remains under-cooked, all leading to an ending that is at best too neat. If nothing else, the film’s plot ties everything together, and the actors supply enough of a spark in their performances to keep us engaged. Maybe this is damning with faint praise, but the film goes about its business through various real-world locations.

Performance wise, Rami Malek, shedding his often-reserved persona, does a compelling job of showing the gradual evolution of the main protagonist, from frightened geek to cold-blooded, methodical killer. However, the rest of the stacked supporting cast is a mixed bag. Laurence Fishburne is fitfully entertaining, but his involvement is surprisingly scarce. Caitríona Balfe makes the most of her scenes as Inquiline, a hacker who soon becomes a valuable ally to Charlie.

Rachel Brosnahan has a dazzling screen presence, but hardly has anything to do here. Holt McCallany and Danny Sapani are amusingly vigorous. Julianne Nicholson is stranded with a handful of scenes. Michael Stuhlbarg delivers monologues with weary finesse. But no one here is more underutilized than Jon Bernthal, despite being intriguing as always. On the whole, ‘The Amateur‘ is a decent old-fashioned spy thriller that is predictable yet also pleasingly engaging.