Time: 124 Minutes
Age Rating: M – Violence
Cast:
Rami Malek as Charles “Charlie” Heller
Laurence Fishburne as Robert “Hendo” Henderson
Rachel Brosnahan as Sarah Heller
Caitríona Balfe as Inquiline
Michael Stuhlbarg as Horst Schiller
Holt McCallany as CIA Deputy Director Alex Moore
Director: James Hawes

The Amateur looked like a typical action thriller, but it seemed entertaining enough and had a great cast attached, so I was curious to check it out. I thought it was decent enough for what it was.

The Amateur is an above average spy thriller that’s unfortunately not that memorable and is nothing spectacular. The moments of silliness definitely were enjoyable, but whenever it tries to make some point about revenge, it doesn’t work nearly as well. It doesn’t help that the pacing is considerably slow, despite being 2 hours long, it felt like it was longer.

The movie does at least benefit from a great cast. In the lead role, Rami Malek gives one of his best performances. He really plays to his strengths, his nervousness and twitchiness works for the character, and they lean into how physically imposing he is not, and how he has to use other skills to get revenge. Laurence Fishburne, Caitriona Balfe, Holt McCallany and Michael Stuhlbarg are really good in supporting roles. Rachel Brosnahan and Jon Bernthal are also decent, though Brosnahan  is relegated to the dead wife character whom the movie flashes back to frequently, and Bernthal is in this movie so little that it makes you wonder why he was included here at all.

The direction is competent on the whole. It’s well shot, the editing is generally okay, and action captured fine, though it’s nothing spectacular.

The Amateur is a familiar yet entertaining enough revenge thriller, with a solid cast led by a great Rami Malek.