I’m a huge fan of Rami Malek’s work, as his Academy Award-winning portrayal in “Bohieman Rapsady’s ( 2018) as Freddy Mercury was fantastic. Rami knows how to embody a character and make it his own. In “The Amateur,” (2025) his role is that of a somewhat nerdy tech guy thrown into the world of espionage—again, Malek is highly believable. Based on the book of the same name by Robert Littell, here, he is out for revenge as he witnesses his wife’s death in a supposed terrorist attack.
At the CIA’s Decryption and Analysis division, Charlie’s friend, a field agent, has access to classified files that reveal information he needs to track down her exact killer or killers. Soon, Charlie grieves and bestows his own conclusions, and his mission for revenge continues. We view numerous flashbacks of Sarah’s killing as she was taken hostage. Using his extremely classified documents, he identifies the suspects — Belarusian criminal Mishka Blazhic, South African ex-special forces operative Ellish, former Armenian intelligence officer Gretchen Frank, and obscure architect Horst Schiller, Sarah’s killer. The entire film is centered on Rami’s determination, despite the odds, to find the killer and shoot him.
It’s actually not easy to carry an entire film on your own, yet Rami is spot-on in his performance. The flashbacks of their lives together add soft touches to this tragically sad film. Rami pleads with the CIA to train him; he demands to have resources to hunt down all four attackers. Of course, they try and reason with him, although to no avail. Even though Director Alex Moore camouflaged this politically motivated drone strike as a suicide bombing, they agreed to his demands and watched every move he made.
With outstanding actors Laurence Fishburne, Jon Bernthal, and Rachel Brosnahan, the film also takes us on a worldwide excursion to Marseille, Istanbul, and Madrid. It’s a wild ride with fantastic set pieces; check out the trailer with the hotel’s night-lite glass rooftop pool as the rigged scuba equipment decompresses the air between the pool’s sheets of glass. Yes, it shatters the glass and sends the person nosediving to an automatic death.
Again, Rami makes the role his own and is very believable. The film could have been shorter, as a few scenes could have been condensed although director James Hawes had different ideas. If you’re looking for a spy thriller, then “The Amateur” is for you!
Sarah Knight Adamson© April 24, 2025