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I haven’t seen a vigilante spy thriller this good since the Bourne movies! Fuck off rotten tomatoes. Ok, Black Bag was really good but not as good as The Amateur. The plot is pretty John Wicky, “you killed someone I love so I’m coming after you”, but the execution is the key here backed by a supremely talented cast to create this slick film.

Rami Malek plays a CIA cryptographer who loses his wife, Rachel Brosnahan, to a terrorist attack and wants retribution. This role is tailor made for Malek who uses brains over brawn to carry out his mission. He shrewdly combines his awkwardness from “Mr. Robot” and deviance from “The Master” to play a well disguised terrifying agent. “I understand I can’t throw down like Jason Bourne but I can still break a rooftop swimming pool in half, stick a terrorist in a poison gas chamber, and set a bomb in the bathroom”. Rachel Brosnahan doesn’t have a lot of scope but her pristine “Lois Lane” look is necessary to justify Malek’s drastic actions. Laurence Fishburne delivers a subtle performance as a CIA handler; honestly could have used a little bit more of “Somebody please get this man a gun”. The stylish John Bernthal shows up for a quick cameo. But the two actors who steal the show are Julianne Nicholson and Holt McCallany. Their scene in the Italian restaurant was reminiscent of the “Heat” diner scene where both characters, who are powerful officers, are not backing down and feeling each other out before pouncing.

I can’t reveal anymore of the story so I’ll end this piece right here. James Hawes, “Suave! God damn you’re one suave fucker”.