The Amateur

 

The Amateur
Starring Rami Malek, Laurence Fishburne, Rachel Brosnahan, Caitriona Balfe
Directed by James Hawes

Jason Bourne. John Wick. James Bond. Charlie Heller. One of these names doesn't fit with the others, and it's obvious who that is. "The Amateur" is amateurish in every possible way, centering on a CIA cryptographer who wants to learn a basic set of skills to avenge the death of his wife, and in the process provides an extremely dull, boring, lifeless outing that doesn't even allow me to muster up any intellectual misgivings because, honestly, I don't care to.

Charlie Heller (Rami Malek) is a CIA cryptographer who is madly in love with his wife Sarah (Rachel Brosnahan) and has an intellectual mind for technology and electronics that is seemingly unparalleled. However, when Sarah is taken hostage during a terrorist attack in London and killed, he blackmails his superiors to get him training to be a CIA vigilante as he desires to kill those who killed his wife. Forced due to the dark intel Charlie has on them, they enlist Hendo Henderson (Laurence Fishburne) to train Charlie how to be an expert assassin, but he proves himself totally inept in every aspect. Fed up with his antics, his superiors have Hendo assassinate Charlie, but Charlie gives them the slip in search of Sarah's killers. As he uses his intellect as opposed to his muscles, Charlie manages to get vengeance against those responsible for Sarah's murder until he comes face-to-face with the man who literally pulled the trigger - as long as he can avoid Hendo and the CIA as well.

Rami Malek has no personality whatsoever, which I guess works for Charlie's character because I'm pretty sure he's on the spectrum (not in a bad way, just not that interesting of a character) who prefers interactions with computers rather than people, and is so wooden it's like he was made from a miniature Bonsai tree. He's supposed to be fueled by vengeance (or, as Archer says in the amazing series "Archer," RAMPAGE!!!) but it's almost like he's on vacation and chooses to kill people for the heck of it. You have no sense of connection between himself and Sarah (played by future "Superman" star Rachel Brosnahan, in the most thankless "dead wife" roles ever) and apart from one moment of grieving, you never feel him feel sad about her death at all. I almost believed it was a red herring, but sadly this movie wasn't that creative. Also, there's a pointless Jon Bernthal appearance that makes me think he stumbled on the set as he was filming "The Accountant 2" and the director just went with it.

There's nothing more frustrating than a concept that seems amazing on paper come to lifeless fruition, but that's what happened with "The Amateur." A story of vengeance from a grieving widow who can't shoot with his life, but can form improvised explosives like a pro? Going against not just a gang of expert terrorists but also a government that wants him silenced for the dirt he has on them? This all has the hallmarks of an excellent, fast-paced, explosively action-packed movie, but instead we get is Jim Halpert without John Krasinski's electric personality fumbling his way to murder after murder. It's painfully formulaic, as Charlie targets four people responsible for his wife's death and dispatches them in opposite order - because you can't go after the big cheese first, after all - and makes it so easy it's like he googled their names in a database (wait, he actually did that? I must've dozed off then...but then again I dozed off quite a few times).

I could say more, but two things: 1) I don't care to, and 2) I don't remember. Maybe something about how dull the film was shot (not even in traditional blues, but like the whole movie was a cloudy day). Maybe something about...uh...hmm...anyway, something about it being not worth your time. There, an amateurish review for an amateur movie.

The Score: D-

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