The Amateur

The Amateur

I really enjoyed this movie, it was a thriller of sorts, with a nerdy CIA analyst, played by Remi Malik, who was a kind of espionage savant deciphering complex data and keeping all our lives safe from the baddies.

The contradiction of this weedy antihero who had to step up to the plate to right a great wrong, was really quite inspirational. On paper this may have looked crazy casting but it was at times deeply moving in the characters grief and desperation. Expertly acted and great to see!

The script was tight and there were some great action sequences and the balance between the action and narrative was just right.

The movie was let down in the last 10 minutes when we just had a ridiculous scenario that ready was beyond incredulous! This was such a shame!

The whole cast turned it out but at best this is a firm 7 outta 10, if they contrived a better ending this would have been an 8.5, it is well worth watching for Malik alone.

I just saw The Amateur and I was pleasantly surprised. I am not a fan of a lot of the non-stop action movies that leave one feeling as if they had been shot out a cannon for 90 minutes, and this movie wasn't like that. There was, I thought, a nice build up that gave you a sense of the character and that he was an unlikely choice as an international assassin. I the thought the use of suspense was good, ratcheting things up as it went along, and I was surprised and intrigued by some of the twists and escapes. I haven't seen a lot of Rami Malek, but I really liked him in this role. I always like Lawrence Fishburn, and he was good, as were a couple of heavies that Charlie outwits in the end. All in all, a good movie, one I was glad to have seen. If they make a sequel, I will likely see that as well.

Plot

When his supervisors at the CIA refuse to take action after his wife is killed in a London terrorist attack, a decoder takes matters into his own hands.

Cast

Rami Malek and Laurence Fishburne deliver as they always do. Jon Bernthal is wasted, Adrian Martinez is always a welcome addition.

Verdict

The Amateur was the wife's choice, if she hadn't picked it I'd have likely never have given it a chance. It looks from the cover like a generic straight to DVD action flick, but I can confidently say I was mistaken.

The Amateur is a thriller with a level of intelligence, alas not as much as it attempts. The plot is less predictable than I expected and that's something, I loved the global wanderings and appreciated a lot of elements integrated but for every couple of things it does well it does one poorly and prevents the movie from being memorable, entertaining or quite frankly logical.

It entertains then it bores, it intrigues then it frustrates and all the while I'm left feeling like many scenes needed additional time but it rushed onto the next instead.

The Amateur could have been an enjoyable intelligent affair, the end result is a rushed mish-mash of ideas that badly falls short.

Rants

No spoilers here, but did you not expect a certain character to still be alive? I thought that was going to be the big twist. I mean come on, the general rule of thumb in movies and tv shows is if you don't actually see the character die then they're not dead. Well, I guess they were. I guess I'm glad as I thought that was predictable, but still it's the unwritten rule!

The Good

Solid cast Some solid ideas Loved the setting(s)

The Bad

Jon Bernthal may as well have not been in the film Badly rushed in areas Some poor writing decisions.

7.25/10 STARS - Saw this was based on a book and now I'm interested to listen to the audiobook (narrated by Scott Brick, who is a fantastic narrator). The movie itself was pretty good, and I enjoyed it. There were some issues here and there with conveniences when it came to his ability to get things done and some moments where suspension of disbelieve was required. Perhaps this was partly because it felt like there was a lot omitted along the way, not clearly showing us how he was able to accomplish what he did. Maybe some more scenes showing him having to figure out how to get to where he needed to be in order to sabotage something would have been good (like in the swimming pool scene). But since this movie was already more than two hours long, I suppose it might be a bit much to show us everything. I liked that we got a good feel for the main characters intense grief over the loss of his wife and his determination to make everyone pay - yet totally out of his element when it came to the brutality of face-to-face killing. Video review will be available on my YouTube channel shortly.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the cinema watching The Amateur. It should have been a short series maybe 4-6 Episodes as opposed to a feature film. I think 2 hours did not leave enough time for proper character development. For example the lead speaks about his great friend played by Lawerence Fisburn in a scene at the end of the film. We never really saw how the two developed that bond as there are barely 2-3 scenes with them together throughout the movie. It was fun though and I feel more so because I watched it at the Theatre. Will definitely give it a rewatch once I can on my couch and recommend anyone who just wants to kick back to give it a watch.