Some movies almost hit greatness but land just a hair short? That’s The Amateur. It’s This close to being great but settles for “pretty damn good.” It’s based on Robert Littell’s novel (it’s the second adaptation), and while it doesn’t completely reinvent the genre, it does a few things right.

The setup is pretty classic: a CIA…analyst loses someone he loves – his wife – to a terrorist attack, and the powers-that-be at the agency are slow to react. So, he takes things into his own hands. We’ve all seen a version of that story before. But what makes The Amateur different is how it treats its main character. Rami Malek plays this introverted CIA analyst or decoder who’s not a killer, and the film doesn’t magically turn him into John Wick overnight. Instead, it builds the story around what someone like him could realistically do if pushed far enough. And honestly, I rarely see that kind of approach in spy thrillers.

Rami is fantastic here. He stays low-key and unassuming but still brings emotional depth, and when it comes time to pull “the trigger,” he makes you believe just how much it costs him. His performance carries a lot of the movie, especially in moments where his character is clearly in over his head but determined to keep going.

The movie also tries to juggle two tones; on one hand, it’s very much a cerebral, slow-burn spy thriller, but at the same time, it occasionally leans into being a more action-heavy revenge flick. That clash doesn’t always work. I wish it had stuck more confidently with the cerebral angle because that’s where the story and Malek shine.

Not every character gets the development they deserve; some of the supporting cast just kind of exist without much depth, and they are criminally underused – I’m looking at you Jon Berntal,
Caitríona Balfe, and Lawrence Fishburne – but the bones of the story are solid. The depth might only exist for book readers but even then, changes have stripped those characters of storylines. This is 100% Malek’s show. There are some nice twists, some beautifully shot sequences, and the soundtrack knows when to punch and when to pull back.

It’s not groundbreaking, and I wouldn’t call it phenomenal, but The Amateur is a solid, satisfying watch, especially if you like your thrillers with a little more restraint and a lead who actually feels human.

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