The Amateur

I'm surprised that the suspenseful spy thriller THE AMATEUR didn't find a bigger audience in theaters. Packed with strong performances and a "Three Days of the Condor"/"Bourne Identity" vibe, it's smart, enjoyable and very well cast.

Rami Malek stars as Charlie Heller, a CIA computer decoder who supports worldwide missions from a dark (but very cool) corner of the agency sub-basement.

He lives his adventures in code, as his wife Sarah (Rachel Brosnahan) reminds him before she leaves on a work assignment in London.

When a terrorist attack claims the life of Sarah, Charlie becomes obsessed with tracking down and killing her killers. The trailers would have you believe that his reaction and covert mission to do so is immediate.

The actual film delves much deeper into the grief and pain after his loss and at this, Malek excels. He's a terrific actor, we've always known that. He wears his emotions boldly and creates a character you feel for. Thankfully, this film doesn't put him in the role of a Bond villain, as "No Time To Die", Daniel Craig's weak OO7 exit did so poorly. Malek looks like he weighs 100 lbs and is about 5'5". A lethal adversary he ain't. But Charlie is damn smart and very talented.

What Malek creates in Charlie is a man with a deep seated, blazing core of revenge. If his agency won't do it, Charlie will.

There is great dialogue about losing someone so close to you, including a discussion about "the sounds that a person makes in your life, that are suddenly gone". Great, real dialogue rings out in the quiet moments, and the loudest.

Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix, John Wick 4) is excellent as Henderson, the agency man hired to train Charlie for his new role. Fishburne always brings menace and he hasn't lost a step, I loved his character.

Holt McCallany (Mindhunter, Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning, Nightmare Alley) has become one of my favorite character actors. He's excellent as CIA Director Moore, the classic CYA political official with a license to kill.

Julianne Nicholson follows up her great role in Hulu's "Paradise" with a fascinating turn as CIA Senior Director O'Brien. Her verbal fireworks with McCallany are quiet and you'll lean on every word.

The globe hopping feels like a Bourne movie and there are foreign agents in the field of every loyalty. I loved seeing Jon Bernthal (The Accountant 2) as an agent whose life Charlie saved and I really enjoyed that his story line is far from predictable.

It's also a real pleasure to see Marthe Keller, the star of two of my favorite 70's thrillers (all-time faves actually) "Black Sunday" and "Marathon Man". She has a small role as a florist, but her voice is so distinct and so much a part of my favorite films, I knew it was her immediately. Images of her trying to calm down Bruce Dern's crazy blimp pilot or soothe Dustin Hoffman's terrified runner came immediately to mind.

The widescreen photography by Martin Ruhe (The Boys in the Boat) is stunning. His framing made me wish I was watching this in Super Panavision 70. Smart work and visually intriguing.

I was fascinated after watching the film to note that it's the second adaption of Robert Littell's novel. The first movie version was made in 1981, starring John Savage, Christopher Plummer and.......Marthe Keller! I've got to go back and watch that now!

If you love spy films or revenge films made for adults, you're going to love THE AMATEUR. It deserves more eyes on it than found it in its original release.

It gets a very solid B+.