What do you get if you cross Bourne with Bond and add a shake of “Mission: Impossible” and maybe just a touch of “Enemy of the State?” A very enjoyable, absorbing spy-thriller, “The Amateur” (20th Century Studios), showing now at the Montrose Playhouse.
Charlie Heller is the kind of spy who works in the caverns—a “Q” from Bond. But after his wife is murdered, during a hostage-situation while she is on a business trip, Charlie seeks training as a field-operative, and then pursues her killers one-by-one, crossing from Washington to Istanbul via London, Paris and Madrid, then to Romania and ending up on a boat on the Crimean. Each of the hostage-takers is disposed of imaginatively, invariably using the tricks previously mastered in the geeky part of spying (he is very good at assembling bombs). Each kill develops the plot, because he obtains the whereabouts of the next link in the chain, all the way up to the evil mastermind himself. On Charlie’s side is a mysterious informer, Inquiline, in Istanbul; but the Central Intelligence Agency, his employers, are playing double agent: they put him under surveillance with the aim of apprehending him, all the while ignoring the higher priority objective of unearthing the killers.
Much hangs on the ability of Rami Malek, who plays Charlie, to hold our attention for the entirety of the film (it seems to be an unwritten rule of the genre for the spy to appear in nearly every scene—thinking again of Bourne or the Bonds). Malek is easily up to the task. He plays the role with sure-footedness and an unusual calmness. He could not be more different from an instinctive action-hero like Bruce Willis, say. Watching his face in the close-up shots, I was struck by his ability to achieve a lot with small movements. He angles his head very slightly to one side, looking quizzical, or smiles with just the outermost centimetre of his lips, or nods almost imperceptibly. The camera wisely makes the most of this skill, because he is more the thoughtful, calm, romantic actor than an especially physical one. He speaks very quietly. He likes informal blue-shirts. In the early scenes with his wife, he is remarkably believable as the loving husband. Theirs feels the authentic, equal, 2025-relationship, as opposed to the paternalistic, unbalanced, man’s world of 20–30 years ago. It is, after all, his wife who is on the business trip. The other significant female role (Inquiline, played by Caitriona Balfe) is a woman who does not need a man to make decisions for her.
Laurence Fishburne plays Henderson, Charlie’s trainer, who turns up at various points during the film to emphasise a nice idea which underpins Charlie’s developing character: that people can surprise us. Often we have a prejudice against those who seem like desk-jockeys, “they won’t get their hands dirty.” While, at first, Henderson believe that his time is being wasted, Charlie frequently outwits him, with the outcome that Henderson become impressed by his protégé as the story progresses.
The film is very expensively made, and the money feels like it was invested wisely. The visual effects and animation are by Industrial Light and Magic, surely the absolute best in the business. The locations chosen in both Paris and Istanbul make great use of the backdrops available in both cities (cafes, old-style hotels and apartment buildings in the former; bridges and skyline in the latter). There is a phenomenally long list of credits, including complete production-teams in each city. The most spectacular set-piece, involving an infinity pool on the top floor of a 5-star hotel, is revealed by the trailer. But there are many other gratifying scenes too. Take the facial-recognition and body-scanning of agents entering CIA headquarters, or the 3-dimensional reconstruction of one of the killers outside London’s St. Pancras station, or the scene with the jukebox, where Charlie has created an inventive hoax.
The presence of so many European capitals suggest that “The Amateur” is closest to the “Bourne” movies in feel. The one thread of the story which disappoints is a near-copy of the idea bludgeoned to death in both Bourne and M:I, that the CIA is the Wild West, with management doing what it likes, believing that career-spooks know better than those pesky democratically elected administrators. Far too much of the plot development rests on this lazy construct. The scenes with Rami Malek were much more interesting. Personally, I would have edited the script to beef-up the contribution of Inquiline, who is a thoroughly appealing character, and has a natural chemistry with Charlie (I liked her instructions to him to lose the backpack and baseball cap to “look less American,” for instance). Those who are familiar with Bond will be able to identify many references (some quite subtle) to different films within the franchise.
There is no point debating the story’s believability or likelihood; or whether a man with Charlie’s temperament (which is similar to mine) could even try to go round knocking-out professional killers (I couldn’t). Of all the more adult films showing recently at the Playhouse, this is the least demanding, most casual watch, and likely to attract the widest general-audience. It carries a 12A-certificate but it is more on the “PG” side. While not exactly fun, it is a cracking thriller and makes for a very enjoyable evening’s entertainment. The release of “The Amateur” is timed perfectly to provide a juicy aperitif for the (no doubt higher-octane) sequel “Mission: Impossible The Final Reckoning” (Paramount Pictures), set for release in the Playhouse next month.
Adam Poole
14 April 2025
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