THE AMATEUR. The old adage is that if you set out on a path of revenge, you ought to dig two graves (perhaps a dozen, if you’re Hamlet). The self-destructive aspect is part of our fascination with tales of vengeance, along with the burden of justice. What if, instead of carrying on with the maddening mundanity of daily life after loss, we abandoned it for an all-consuming vendetta? Without those elements, we wind up with the vigilante schlock of the 1970s, high on power fantasies of righteous violence, vicariously funneling impotent rage into killing everything but the systems that fail us. (If the Death Wish franchise is your love language, my apologies for yucking on your yum.)
The Amateur, directed by James Hawes, tampers with the vigilante movie formula by making its hero (not quite antihero) more mathlete than macho and focusing on a particular set of skills that don’t involve fisticuffs. That shift offers possibilities for more rule-breaking but The Amateur refrains from taking further risks or delving into the murky moral and psychological waters of vengeance that might have boosted it beyond pedestrian action fun.
Gentle puzzle aficionado and CIA decryption analyst Charlie (Rami Malek) sees his wife, Sarah (Rachel Brosnahan), off for a business trip to London before heading to the office for awkward social interactions with cool operatives and his regular chat with a mysterious online informant, this time about the agency’s nefarious doings abroad. That quandary takes a backseat when he’s pulled into a meeting with his superiors, Moore (Holt McCallany) and CIA Director O’Brien (Julianne Nicholson), who break the news of Sarah’s death in a terrorist attack with graphic footage and all the gentleness of a flash-bang. A grieving Charlie turns his considerable tech skills to the task of identifying her killers with a stunning patchwork of camera footage (let’s hear it for the surveillance state). But Moore is uninterested in the results, so Charlie leverages the intel about the aforementioned nefarious doings to blackmail his boss — not to pursue the killers, but to train Charlie to do so himself.
Charlie is paired with stern instructor Henderson (Laurence Fishburne), who’s also meant to placate and distract him while Moore tries to track down the blackmail material. Since he’s no kind of shot, Charlie leans on his tinkerer’s hand for bomb-making and his encryption/decryption and surveillance technology chops to track down the A-list killers responsible for Sarah’s death while evading his CIA colleagues.
Malek’s face — his eyes blown wide in wonder or shock, cheekbones and jaw catching light and shadow — do an enormous amount of work to patch the gaps in the writing and filling out Charlie’s character, a cerebral, heartbroken fellow who’s at the very least neuro-interesting. But it’s not enough. And while there’s novelty in seeing the hero not walk coolly from an explosion and turn to YouTube videos for spycraft, there isn’t enough development beyond his growing confidence with explosives to keep us thinking about him as more than a means to the next set piece.
Nicholson, who was wonderfully monstrous in the series Paradise, is underused and might have had more to do if her starched efficiency was deployed in the role of Moore. As it stands, mostly weak players are left to manage a weak subplot, and the game of cat and mouse is more about cool tricks than characters in conflict or the crossing of wits. Jon Bernthal is likewise relegated to an extended cameo and a scruffy wig.
The Amateur makes a run at challenging vigilante conventions but hangs onto others that don’t add to the story. Sarah is a Perfect Wife™, young, smart and beautiful, conflict-free and undemanding, even just before a work trip — perfectly ripe to be fridged, killed to inspire our hero to action. Yeah, it’s a revenge/vigilante movie but just once, let’s see the hero go to war over a messy, imperfect spouse, a real and human person to rage over as we in the real world rage. As usual, there’s a lot of talk about who is or isn’t a natural killer and, despite the number of people he definitely kills, somehow that’s not him. Sure. His somewhat detached methods and the corruption among his higher ups offer a chance to delve into the complexities and ethical ramifications of his job gathering all that intel for the CIA, but while the trailer hints at this, it never happens in the film itself.
There are cool stunts and clever devices, as well as surprises at Charlie’s ingenuity, enough to entertain. But Hawes chooses neatness instead of uncertainty and struggle. We get the accomplishment of solving the puzzle box, but once opened, there’s nothing inside. PG13. 123M.BROADWAY, MILL CREEK.
Jennifer Fumiko Cahill (she/her) is the arts and features editor at the Journal. Reach her at (707) 442-1400, extension 320, or jennifer@northcoastjournal.com. Follow her on Bluesky @jfumikocahill.bsky.social.
NOW PLAYING
THE AMATEUR. A CIA decoder (Rami Malek) takes to the field for unsanctioned revenge after his wife is killed. PG13. 123M. BROADWAY, MILL CREEK.
THE BALLAD OF WALLIS ISLAND. An isolated, island-dwelling lottery winner schemes to reunite his favorite music duo. Tom Basden, Tim Key, Sian Clifford. PG13. 99M. MINOR.
DEATH OF A UNICORN. Whoops, a father and daughter (Paul Rudd, Jenna Ortega) hit a magical beast with their car and — surprise — a billionaire (Richard Grant) makes it worse. R. 104M. BROADWAY.
DROP. Gimmick thriller about a single mom (Meghann Fahy) on a first date getting messages threatening her son if she doesn’t kill her date. PG13. 100M. BROADWAY, MILL CREEK.
THE KING OF KINGS. Animated adaptation of Charles Dickens’ bio of Jesus Christ, voiced by Pierce Brosnan and Oscar Isaac. PG. 104M. BROADWAY.
A MINECRAFT MOVIE. Trapped in the blocky video game with Steve. Starring Jack Black and Jason Momoa. PG. 102M. BROADWAY (3D), MILL CREEK (3D), MINOR.
SINNERS. Ryan Coogler directs Michael B. Jordan as twins battling the undead in the South during Prohibition. R. 137M. BROADWAY, MILL CREEK.
SNEAKS. Animated adventures of a lost sneaker and things must be bad because it feels relatable. Voiced by Laurence Fishburne and Anthony Mackie. PG. 92M. BROADWAY, MILL CREEK.
WARFARE. Drama based on U.S. Navy Seals’ memories of a mission in Iraq, unfolding in real time. D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Will Poulter. R. 95M. BROADWAY, MILL CREEK, MINOR.
A WORKING MAN. Jason Statham in another side-hustle action movie about a construction worker dad back on his trained killer bullshit. R. BROADWAY.
For showtimes call: Broadway Cinema (707) 443-3456; Mill Creek Cinema 839-3456; Minor Theatre (707) 822-3456.
This article appears in Portrait of a Prairie.
