Rami Malek says something unintentionally hilarious at the top of The Amateur trailer: “It’s the CIA. I’ve got to trust that they’ll make the right call.” The entire violent history of the organization aside, there has perhaps never been a more obvious foreshadowing that the CIA might not make the right call in this movie, which premieres in theaters on April 11, 2025. In this case, the wrong call was underestimating Malek’s character, who goes rogue in his mission for revenge.
Described as a “modernized take” on the 1981 book (and subsequent adaptation of the same name), The Amateur follows Charlie Heller (Malek), “a brilliant, but deeply introverted decoder for the CIA working out of a basement office at headquarters in Langley whose life is turned upside down when his wife is killed in a London terrorist attack,” according to the film’s synopsis. “When his supervisors refuse to take action, he takes matters into his own hands, embarking on a dangerous trek across the globe to track down those responsible, his intelligence serving as the ultimate weapon for eluding his pursuers and achieving his revenge.”
In The Amateur trailer, Rachel Brosnahan—late of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and soon of Superman—appears to have been cast in the time-honored Hollywood tradition of “inoffensive but expendable brunette wife.” After her death (which, if you ask this writer, is absolutely screaming “inside job”), Charlie is ridiculed for his desire to get out into the field by numerous heavies played by the likes of Holt McCallany, Jon Bernthal, and Laurence Fishburne. But Charlie, who “practically invented half of [the CIA’s] surveillance,” has plenty of tricks up his sleeve that will force the terrorists who killed his wife and his colleagues at the CIA (and again, this writer speculates that they are one and the same) to take his skills more seriously.
The Amateur seems to be a boilerplate action thriller in the style of the Bourne franchise, so surely this will be a hit with dads everywhere. Directed by James Hawes, the film also stars Caitríona Balfe, Michael Stuhlbarg, Julianne Nicholson, Adrian Martinez, and Danny Sapani.
English (US) ·