James Hawes
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Going into The Amateur expecting The Bourne Identity is unwise, but there’s plenty to sink your teeth into for audience members looking to be entertained.
A vigilante cat-and-mouse spy thriller that borrows from Death Wish just as much as The Bourne Identity…
…the film is at its best when finding surprising ways to turn low-key intelligence into subtle spectacle reminiscent of The Bourne Identity…
Imagine The Bourne Identity but Jason Bourne is a basement-dwelling weeb.
But The Amateur would like to be The Bourne Identity without the fighting — which is to say without the exciting bits.
The fight choreography and stunts are very tame, especially when compared to the Mission: Impossible and John Wick‘s of the world.
…though this role owes more to Rambo's Trautman than John Wick's Hoboken Hobo King.
Heller’s “unique” set of skills don’t quite rival those of John Wick or Ethan Hunt, but he does have the brainpower to hack into government mainframes and exploit highly classified intel to track down his wife’s killers.
…heroes usually go from zero to elite operative in record time (Nobody, Man on Fire, John Wick—you name it)…
It's like John Wick or Jason Bourne, but replaced by a nerdy tech guy instead of a trained assassin.
John Wick’s wife has died from cancer before the movie starts, but when bad guys come for the puppy she left him, he is out for blood.
Heller gets on his Jigsaw shit…
Charlie is far from a comfortable killer, so he has to set up elaborate Saw traps to fend off the terrorists involved in his wife’s death.
The irony that Charlie’s inability to shoot someone causes him to transform into Jigsaw is not lost on the other characters: more than one comments that death by bullet is more humane than what Charlie is doing.
…a guy who essentially creates inescapable Saw-traps for his potential victims…
…particularly when it comes to Saw-esque traps that Charles concocts to take down or get answers from his wife’s murderers…
…the type of zazz that was brewed up for the most recent adaptation (namely, throwing in a touch of Taken), doesn’t really suit the star’s certain set of skills…
Ever since “Taken“ rebranded Liam Neeson as a grizzled action star, studios have been applying the formula to actors from outside the genre to slip into the role of the reluctant vigilante.
The Amateur forgets some of this later when Charlie momentarily turns into Liam Neeson in Taken (2008) when confronting an international terrorist cell.
He looks to his own “particular set of skills” to track down and pay back the people who took his wife’s life.
With a vibe that borrows from Death Wish and Jason Bourne, the film delivers slick set pieces, familiar genre beats, and a central performance that’s more restrained than revolutionary.
A vigilante cat-and-mouse spy thriller that borrows from Death Wish just as much as The Bourne Identity…
There is the 1974 Charles Bronson film Death Wish…
…joining a club that includes the likes of Guy Pearce (“Lockout”), Dylan O’Brien (“American Assassin”), Ethan Hawke (“24 Hours to Live”), Bob Odenkirk (“Nobody“), Sean Penn (“The Gunman”)…
When most spy movies focus on ordinary people — as in True Lies, The Long Kiss Goodnight or Nobody — the “normal” existence of the characters ends up being a cover for their background in badassery.
It's a plot that's been done to death lately, with enjoyable highs (Nobody) and disappointing lows (Love Hurts).
…heroes usually go from zero to elite operative in record time (Nobody, Man on Fire, John Wick—you name it)…
He plays to type here, essentially reheating his role as introverted hacker in Mr Robot (2015-19).
Malik is perfectly suited to this role, not dissimilar from “Mr. Robot,”…
It’s not unlike his Elliot Alderson from “Mr. Robot,” but here, Charlie isn’t guiding us through techno-anarchist rabbit holes.
…have Malek use his Mr. Robot acting abilities for good measure…
…as if photoshopping the “Mr. Robot” star right into a Langley office and calling it a day…
Malek is a charismatic actor at his best (Mr Robot; Short Term 12), but he’s somewhat ill-fitting here.
Charles Jarrott’s 1981 adaptation of Robert Littell’s novel The Amateur…
This isn’t the first time The Amateur has been released in theaters. Robert Littell wrote the screenplay for the 1982 film based on his 1981 novel (available on Amazon), but it’s been long enough that it can connect with different audiences.
1981’s The Amateur, on the other hand, establishes the killers as truly menacing characters right off the bat, and they cast a dark cloud over the rest of the film. (Both films are based on the novel of the same name by Robert Littell.)
The Amateur is a remake of the 1981 film of the same name.
The Amateur is the second adaptation of Robert Littell’s 1981 novel of the same name: the first adaptation–also released in 1981–was directed by Charles Jarrott and stars John Savage, Christopher Plummer, and Marthe Keller.
That's significantly newer than the weirdly regressive A Working Man, but where that had Sylvester Stallone and David Ayer moderating, this finds ways to be more sexist, and, if anything, more nihilistic.
Everything A Working Man got totally wrong, The Amateur gets right…
…joining a club that includes the likes of Guy Pearce (“Lockout”), Dylan O’Brien (“American Assassin”), Ethan Hawke (“24 Hours to Live”), Bob Odenkirk (“Nobody“), Sean Penn (“The Gunman”)…
Michael Cuesta’s “American Assassin” (2017) featured Dylan O’Brien in a narrative that foreshadowed the beats of this one in many respects.
If you want to have a double feature movie day, see “Black Bag” (2025) afterwards to supplement your spy in love willing to go to any lengths for his lover desires!
…big year for that archetype, between this and Black Bag…
From classic noirs like The Big Heat to Bond movies like Quantum of Solace, revenge makes for a compelling character motivation and an angle audiences can invest in.
…and the original 1987 Lethal Weapon.
When most spy movies focus on ordinary people — as in True Lies, The Long Kiss Goodnight or Nobody — the “normal” existence of the characters ends up being a cover for their background in badassery.
When most spy movies focus on ordinary people — as in True Lies, The Long Kiss Goodnight or Nobody — the “normal” existence of the characters ends up being a cover for their background in badassery.
Christopher Nolan is a notorious fridger of women from Memento to Tenet.
…joining a club that includes the likes of Guy Pearce (“Lockout”), Dylan O’Brien (“American Assassin”), Ethan Hawke (“24 Hours to Live”), Bob Odenkirk (“Nobody“), Sean Penn (“The Gunman”)…
…joining a club that includes the likes of Guy Pearce (“Lockout”), Dylan O’Brien (“American Assassin”), Ethan Hawke (“24 Hours to Live”), Bob Odenkirk (“Nobody“), Sean Penn (“The Gunman”)…
Rami Malek’s portrayal of Heller feels like a blend of Jason Bourne and Christian Wolff from The Accountant films.
He's closer to Ben Affleck's character in The Accountant, though with zero shooting skills.
…joining a club that includes the likes of Guy Pearce (“Lockout”), Dylan O’Brien (“American Assassin”), Ethan Hawke (“24 Hours to Live”), Bob Odenkirk (“Nobody“), Sean Penn (“The Gunman”)…