The Amateur

Charlie has a wonderful life. I mean, he has a couple nice cars, an amazing wife, Sarah (Rachel Brosnahan), and a big wonderful home. What does Charlie do for a living? Well, if he told you, he’d probably have to kill you. Just kidding, but really his job is Top Secret. He’s a cryptographer and analyst for the CIA. As such, Charlie combs through mountains of Top Secret reports and classified information, but something catches his eye this one time. Two documents on a drone attack, but both have different causes of death. This is definitely a red flag.

Charlie responsibly reports the discrepancy to his superior, CIA Deputy Director, Alex Moore (Holt McCallany). Moore doesn’t know how to handle this, so they both go and speak to the top Director who regrets to inform him that while Sarah was overseas, she was taken hostage during a robbery gone wrong and was killed.

Charlie can’t believe it. The two of them were just talking not two hours ago. In his moment of grief, Charlie’s brain snaps.

“I want to find the men who killed my wife.” The Director and Deputy laugh. “Who does this guy think he is?” they wonder to themselves. “Let us handle this,” they tell Charlie. But Charlie doesn’t relent; no, in fact this lack of assurance from the Deputy and Director only fuels Charlie’s desire to seek personal revenge and kill every last person who murdered his wife.

But there is more to this story than what’s on the surface, and Charlie is about to find out what that is, whether he has the strength to… or not…

When I first looked at “The Amateur” from a distance, I thought, “Another spin-off of the movie ‘Taken’!” It was silly of me to make such an assumption without having given this more thought. Indeed, I was right, sort of. There’s an average joe who’s actually really a lean, mean fighting machine that no one knows about, this average joe has a family member or friend kidnapped or killed, this not-so-average joe has to go and either save the member or avenge their death by wiping out anyone standing in his/her way. Sounds about right.

Looks can be deceiving. I state this not just in terms of the overall story, but also what lies beneath the surface. On the surface it looks like a guy avenging the death of his wife—a dash of vigilante justice just for the sake of it. Underneath, however, there are moments that are even more ugly.

The Amateur’s primary message is that revenge is okay as long as it’s justified. If you have to kill everyone in the room to find peace, then do it. After all, they’re in your way. This is a very dangerous and downright petrifying message.

As I watched Rami Malek’s performance as Charlie, I could see the level of hatred and anger build up in him. “You killed one person, Charlie. Are you satisfied yet?” one character asks. Again, Charlie insists he won’t find peace till he has killed all the men responsible for his wife’s death.

One might argue that while he does kill the people responsible, he gives them one chance to avoid being killed. Okay, so does that nullify the actual murder itself because he gives them a chance? Are we, as the Scriptures tell us, allowing anger to have a foothold and justifying extreme anger due to circumstances. After all the Bible does state the following,

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger —Ephesians 4:26

Notice the Bible doesn’t say that we aren’t allowed to be frustrated or angry, but Scriptures also states that we should not allow our anger to fester (Proverbs 15:1). Jesus Himself states…

But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. —Matthew 5:22

In spite of this flaw (and it’s a pretty big one), overall, the film is enjoyable. The story doesn’t slow down much, apart from a conversation here and there between Charlie and an unidentified user he chats with online (but later meets in person). This constant drive of action, quiet moment, more action, quiet moment, never allows the audience to take much of a breath. The plot isn’t overly complicated (you really don’t need to know much about the intelligence gathering community).

Rami Malek gives a strong, nuanced performance. He comes off as rather stoic, rather sullen in the beginning, but as each kill occurs we see more emotion and reaction surface. Laurence Fishburne is underutilized in this film, with being nothing more than a slight distraction from what’s actually going on. It’s a shame, because Laurence is a master of his craft, and I wanted to see more of him throughout the film.

Content of Concern

VIOLENCE: Images of a drone strike are shown on a computer screen. Charlie’s wife is seen being taken hostage and killed. There are images and video on screen showing the criminals shooting their guns in the air and threatening lives as they roam a hotel. Charlie is shown building an IED (bomb). Charlie nearly shoots two people in the back. While a woman is working and doing an allergy test, heavy amounts of pollen are pushed through a pipe and into the glass dome the woman is in while on an elliptical machine. She nearly suffocates and dies before finally being released. There are a handful of fights throughout the film (nothing graphic).

There is one somewhat graphic scene where a woman is hit by an oncoming truck. A bomb is set off in a bar so someone can make an escape. A story is told about an ex-KGB member being pushed out a 12th floor window. Someone decompresses the air that is holding a suspended transparent swimming pool (connected between skyscraper buildings), and the swimmer crashes to the ground. Two CIA officers fight ferociously. Someone is shot (but survives). People are shot at while they’re driving. An IED explodes, killing someone. A woman is shot and dies. A character is knocked out. A character points a gun at a few people.

VULGARITY: F-word (1), Sh*t (8), Sh*tty (8), Pr*ck (1), A** (1)

PROFANITY: J*sus (1), G*d-d*mn (1), Oh my G*d (1), D*mned (1), H*ll (1)

SEXUAL CONTENT: Charlie and Sarah kiss and flirt. Flashbacks show the couple displaying affection in other ways. A woman asks a man to sleep next to her. They cuddle, but only to provide comfort to each other.

NUDITY: Female dancers wear revealing outfits. We see a man swimming in a Speedo-style swimsuit. We see a male showering (only from the shoulders up). People dance at a club.

ALCOHOL: Charlie drinks in excess to the point of intoxication in several scenes. One scene takes place at a bar.

Closing Thoughts

“The Amateur” indeed is a unique take on a very formulaic type of movie. There are some genuine surprising moments that caught me off guard (and I can usually spot them a mile away). Indeed, there are some strong performances and genuine emotions on display.

The emotion that really gets the spotlight, however, is anger. Jesus has stated that anger, when festered, leads to hate and murder in one’s heart. In this case, though, Charlie’s anger festers to the point where his anger leads to actual physical murder. Does he find peace? The film doesn’t tell us; I mean not really. He sure doesn’t feel guilty about his actions, even when the smoke clears.

For this reason and for the abundance of violence in this film, I do not recommend “The Amateur” to Christians, including adults. You will likely walk out of the film with a sense of depression and hopelessness, and nobody grows spiritually with those kinds of emotions.

Save your time and money. This movie is a strong pass.

• Violence: Very Heavy
• Vulgar/Crude language: Moderately Heavy
• Drugs/Alcohol: Moderately Heavy
• Profane language: Moderate
• Sex: Mild
• Nudity: Minor
• Occult: None
• Wokeism: None

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in Christian Spotlight reviews are those of the reviewers themselves, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Christian Answers.