The Amateur Movie Review: Despite flaws, this thriller about a rookie spy is riveting

We have been conditioned to cheer when a spy effortlessly completes a mission and walks away with the theme music pulsing in the background. It is quite refreshing to see a spy thriller that follows a novice being pushed into the same space. James Hawes' The Amateur revolves around a man, all odds stacked against him, seeking vengeance while also going against a system that gave him an identity. This much-needed subversion of following a newbie spy enables us to view how a flawed and fragile person employs everything he can to get what he wants.

The Amateur stands out in the way it introduces characters. It begins with Rami Malek's Charles Heller already missing his wife Sarah (Rachel Brosnahan). As Sarah leaves for a business trip to London, Charles awkwardly runs behind her car to say goodbye in blissful ignorance that this will be the last time he will be seeing her. Charles' ground shifts beneath his feet as he learns that Sarah is killed by a bunch of terrorists while they attack the hotel that hosts her business conference. Under the payroll of the CIA, Charles treats his data analyst vocation as just a job. As the plot unravels, his unassuming job gains its significance. Using his profession, Charles soon discovers that these terrorists are a part of the CIA's rogue mission, used as a cover-up and a diversion when something important happens elsewhere that could put the agency and America to shame. With an already meek physique that puts him at a disadvantage in this situation, Charles runs out of roads when the agency deserts him and leaves him on his own. Whether or not Charles succeeds in his vengeance and exposes the rotten apples in the CIA forms the rest of The Amateur.

Director: James Hawes
Cast: Rami Malek, Rachel Brosnahan, Caitríona Balfe, Michael Stuhlbarg, Laurence Fishburne

The film deftly balances the emotional depth and the thriller elements, much of which can be credited to the casting of Rami Malek. The love of Charles' life dies moments into the film; there is no melodrama. But he seems lost; he emptily stares at something, sheds tears, and pukes in the car. The film doesn't take the conventional route to show someone's bereavement. When the film takes to conventionality – Charles sees Sarah everywhere he goes – it feels justified and, thankfully, never overdone. Charles goes through arms training; again, the usual expectation would be that he will come out of the training as a gun-toting badass, but no. He comes out knowing that shooting is not his thing. Known to have an IQ of 170, he devises novel strategies to finish off his enemies. However, on the downside, once he relies on his brains for revenge, he breezes through every obstacle that would have otherwise been daunting. In these spaces, when Charles proves he is a step ahead, the villains don't seem villainous enough. Additionally, Charles creates explosives and sets contraptions on the run, using his wit. While it is refreshing to see a spy film where the spy is more brainy than brawny, it becomes a convenient choice where things happen only because Charles can do things. Also, CIA deputy director Alex Moore (Holt McCallany) and Caleb Horowitz (Danny Sapani), whose shadiness Charles threatens to expose, pose no danger in the latter's pursuit of revenge. Not a bullet graces Charles. It is as though the bad guys are waiting in their respective corners for Charles to arrive and end their lives.

Apart from Charles' adventure across Europe, there is also a minor, yet beautiful portion that he shares with Inquiline Davies (Caitriona Balfe), an informer who has taken the shoes of her late husband. Despite their losses and their attachment to their late spouses, they live under the same roof and can't help but confess that they need each other. These brief portions show the human side of both Charles and Inquiline and win our empathy. The Amateur has several likeable things like characterisation and ideas, yet all of this comes with problems, leaving gaping holes in the screenplay like the seamless execution of revenge plans with close to no consequences. These good parts are isolated but do not come together to form a fully convincing thriller.