THE AMATEUR

Oscar winner Rami Malek plays CIA decoder Charlie Heller, who's wife (also an employee of the agency) meets her untimely death due to a terrorist attack. Charlie, a humble computer based basement dweller, seeks to get training in order to hunt down and kill those responsible. Ever since his award winning performance as Freddie Mercury, Malek hasn't done much to impress me in the subsequent 7 years and this may be his worst role yet. Charlie is a completely weak character who relies on his brains over brawn, which is understandable but doesn't make the character or film for that matter interesting. Think of this as the anti-James Bond. Anything you would normally associate with a spy, Charlie is the exact opposite, which the feminist should love. But there is still some of that "toxic masculinity" in the form of Charlie's boss Director Moore played by Holt McCallany and Charlie's field trainer Colonel Henderson played by Laurence Fishburne. Not to mention Jon Bernthal has a cup of coffee appearance that comes off like he was in the neighborhood and someone invited him onto the set for a day to get some screen time (very underutilized). Very little suspense or story to keep my attention for the full runtime and disappointing effort by everyone involved. 5.5/10