'The Amateur,' starring Rami Malek, looks the part but can't execute the mission

Charlie (Rami Malek) doesn’t similar to alert and helium doesn’t similar to instrumentality risks. It’s thing his wife, Sarah (Rachel Brosnahan), teases him astir truthful much, she gives him an aged Cessna plane, squirreled distant successful a barn connected their agrarian Virginia property, to assistance him to conquer his fears.

As the titular quality of “The Amateur,” Charlie comes disconnected arsenic timid and cautious, some astatine location and successful his nonrecreational beingness arsenic a decoder astatine the CIA. But Charlie’s beingness changes successful an instant erstwhile Sarah is murdered during a violent onslaught successful London. Blinded by grief, helium discovers the breadth of his unsocial accomplishment acceptable extracurricular the walls of the George Bush Center for Intelligence. Fear of flying? Aversion to risk? That each goes retired the model erstwhile he’s driven by vengeance.

“The Amateur,” from “Slow Horses” manager James Hawes and written by Ken Nolan and Gary Spinelli (adapting the caller by Robert Littell), presents arsenic a globe-trotting spy thriller and begs the question: What if Jason Bourne was a nerd? Charlie isn’t saddled with amnesia; he’s stuck with his ain fumbling abilities astatine real-world spycraft and unwillingness to sprout different quality being astatine adjacent scope — thing he’ll person to enactment connected if helium wants to execute the justness helium believes Sarah deserves.

It’s a clever premise and Malek works good successful the role, with his unusually angular look and haunted eyes, perpetually scanning his environments. “The Amateur” is handsomely made, its benignant and gait appealingly fluid, propelled by a Volker Bertelmann score. The supporting formed is afloat of aces, with Holt McCallany and Julianne Nicholson arsenic CIA higher-ups, Laurence Fishburne arsenic the antheral they telephone successful to bid Charlie, Jon Bernthal arsenic a charismatic tract cause and Caitríona Balfe arsenic a mysterious planetary liaison. All of the elements are there, but the movie is frustratingly inert.

“The Amateur” starts disconnected promisingly, arsenic Charlie takes the probe of his wife’s decease into his ain hands, putting his method mastery to usage successful mapping retired the events of that time and tracking down her killers, which takes astir 30 seconds. When the CIA drags their feet connected eliminating them, Charlie goes rogue. He secrets distant a trove of incriminating documents astir a nasty mendacious emblem cognition and cover-up, which helium uses arsenic leverage to request his ain tract training.

As their patience runs retired connected this hastily arranged bargain, Charlie manages to springiness the feds the gaffe and sets retired connected his own, acceptable oregon not. It’s erstwhile our antheral touches down successful Europe that “The Amateur” starts to rotation its wheels. There’s a full deficiency of suspense arsenic helium tracks down the mercenaries liable for Sarah’s decease and takes them retired utilizing his ain originative means. Unfortunately, the trailer spoils 1 of the film’s astir outlandish assassinations, truthful it unfolds with each of the vigor of a gag you’ve already heard.

That’s a cardinal portion of the occupation with “The Amateur,” successful which it ever feels similar we’re up of the story, alternatively of playing catch-up and trying to fig retired a mystery. There are pops of surprise, particularly arsenic Charlie demonstrates his newfound aptitude for improvised explosive devices, but there’s nary mystery. He simply lays it each retired for america and past things proceed arsenic expected. There’s nary thrill oregon daze astatine immoderate of the twists oregon reveals: He is simply a vengeful, grieving hubby who goes aft the radical helium identifies arsenic his wife’s killers, and helium executes his task successful a precise straightforward manner. At slightest “John Wick” did it artfully.

Bernthal is painfully underutilized, though helium manages to marque a full repast retired of his constricted role. Hawes has astatine his disposal 1 of the top cinematic tools afforded a filmmaker — a third-act Michael Stuhlbarg monologue — but not adjacent that tin prevention “The Amateur.” Both actors bring a small beingness to the proceedings, but not capable to afloat revive the corpse.

Ultimately, “The Amateur” is much of an affectional travel than a rip-roaring one, but wherefore would we similar the erstwhile implicit the second successful this context? Charlie keeps declaring that Sarah “mattered” to his superiors and to his enemies, but we lone cognize that due to the fact that helium keeps insisting upon it, not due to the fact that we get to cognize thing astir her, beyond her penchant for quirky gift-giving. Why was she successful London anyway?

There’s a batch missing from “The Amateur” and it’s unclear whether this happened successful the inception and penning of the task oregon successful post-production. But knowing that wouldn’t alteration the result. While the film’s execution seems adept connected the surface, the interior communicative plan is unluckily ham-handed and woefully dull. Don’t discontinue your time job, Charlie.

Katie Walsh is simply a Tribune News Service movie critic.