The Amateur Breaks the Mold: Cat and Mouse with a Code?

As Catholics, we know vengeance is wrong (especially if it involves killing people!), but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy a good revenge film every now and then. Movie characters don’t have to be perfect, so we can still appreciate what these stories get right without condoning vengeance in the real world. In fact, I'd even say there’s something deeply satisfying about seeing despicable criminals get their comeuppance, so it should come as no surprise that I've had my eye on the upcoming revenge film The Amateur for a while. I thought it looked like a great new spin on a longstanding cinematic template, and when I got the chance to catch an early screening of the movie, I couldn’t say no.

The Amateur was directed by James Hawes, and it stars Rami Malek, Rachel Brosnahan, Caitríona Balfe, Jon Bernthal, Holt McCallany, Julianne Nicholson, Danny Sapani, and Laurence Fishburne. In the film, Charlie Heller is a tech genius who works for the CIA. He’s much more of a behind-the-scenes guy than a field agent, but that changes when his wife, Sarah, is tragically killed in a terrorist attack.

He wants his superiors to go after the people who perpetrated the attack, but despite their assurances, they seem reluctant to take any action. Eventually, Charlie decides to use his unique skills to avenge his wife’s death as only a “nerdy fellow who works on computers” (to quote the trailer) can, and he blackmails his boss into letting him do it. Unsurprisingly, Charlie’s insubordination doesn’t go over too well, so he now has to deal with two problems: the people he’s going after and the people he works for.

As you might be able to guess from that plot synopsis, The Amateur isn’t your typical revenge flick. Sure, it has a few bursts of action every now and then, but for the majority of its runtime, this movie plays more like a drama than anything else. In fact, the script goes out of its way to tell us that Charlie is no John Wick, so if you’re expecting a nonstop whirlwind of guns, car chases, and hand-to-hand combat, you’re going to be sorely disappointed.

Instead, this film is a cerebral thriller that relies primarily on its characters and the sly cat-and-mouse games they play, and it knocks it out of the park on both fronts. Let’s start with the characters. This entire cast is excellent, but hands down, the best of the bunch is Rami Malek. He plays Charlie, and he totally nails the entire gamut of this guy’s emotions.

For example, when The Amateur begins, you can tell that he genuinely loves his wife. It’s on his face and in his voice whenever she’s around, so you just know the woman’s death is going to hit him like a ton of bricks. And when the inevitable happens, Malek doesn’t miss a beat. Charlie isn’t the most emotional guy around, but Malek finds a way to effectively portray the character’s grief without the typical sobbing and screaming you often see in these situations.

It’s a great performance that makes the injustice of Sarah’s death almost palpable, so when Charlie decides to go after the people who killed her, you’re completely on board. You want them to get the comeuppance they deserve, and thankfully, Charlie’s unorthodox methods are an absolute blast.

The filmmakers come up with a number of truly inventive ways to use the character’s considerable brainpower, and in a genre often driven by brute force, this more intellectual approach to on-screen vengeance is a breath of fresh air. It’ll keep you on the edge of your seat just like more common revenge tactics, but it’ll engage your mind way more than these movies typically do.

It adds a great new wrinkle to this time-honored cinematic template, but it’s only half the story. The other half is the CIA’s hunt for its rogue agent, and that side of the film is just as engaging. Granted, it doesn’t have the emotional pull of Charlie’s quest, but it makes up for that by adding some action to its brainy thrills.

We get an automotive getaway amid heavy fire, a foot race in a crowded part of town, and even a fun fight involving Laurence Fishburne’s character, so this movie just about has it all. My only knock on it is that the story is a bit thematically confused. See, Charlie’s conflict with the higher-ups at the CIA highlights the bedrock ethical principle that good ends don’t justify evil means, but that’s an odd point for a revenge film to make.

Cinematic vengeance seekers openly flaunt that moral maxim, so unless a movie like The Amateur is trying to subvert the entire revenge blueprint (which this one isn’t), it shouldn’t draw attention to the deficiencies in its protagonist’s moral compass. Instead, these films should just focus on what their main characters get right (namely, that evil people shouldn't get away with their crimes), but The Amateur tries to have its cake and eat it too.

I guess there’s some noble intent in that, but I don’t think it ultimately works. Like I said before, it just comes across as a bit thematically confused. Thankfully though, that one flaw doesn’t ruin the entire experience. The Amateur is still a riveting, well-acted adventure that puts a more cerebral spin on the typical vengeance template, so if you like seeing heinous criminals get the punishment they deserve, I think you’re going to enjoy this movie just as much as I did.