Directed by James Hawes (One Life (2023); Enid (2009); Slow Horses (tv series, 2022)) and starring Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody (2018); Oppenheimer (2023); Amsterdam (2022); Mr Robot (tv series, 2015-19)), Rachel Brosnahan (Patriots Day (2016); The Courier (2020); House of Cards (tv series, 2013-19); The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (tv series, 2017-23), Holt McCallany (), Tiffany Gray (Innocent Blood (2013)), Julianne Nicholson (I, Tonya (2017); August: Osage County (2013); Mare of Easttown (tv series, 2021)) and Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix (1999); Contagion (2011); Mystic River (2003); Man of Steel (2013)).
Thriller; 122 mins; 12+
A revenge thriller cum action film set in the US east coast, London, Paris, Istanbul, Romania and a Russian island...
Introvert but brilliant CIA cryptographer Heller (Rami Malek) works in a windowless office in a secure unit who decides to stay home rather than accompany his wife Sarah (Rachel Brosnahan) to a London conference. His bosses Director Moore (Holt McCallany) and Director O'Brien (Julianne Nicholson) break the news that Sarah was killed by terrorists at the hotel in which she was staying.
He vows revenge and uses the tools available to him to identify her killers whom he is determined to kill himself. He leverages information he has uncovered about illegal covert ops on foreign soil, to convince Director Moore to give him specialised training. He is assigned to Henderson (Laurence Fishburne) who tries both to talk Heller out of his mission and also to advise him how difficult it can be to kill someone.
Nevertheless, Heller then sets out on a globetrotting mission in which he applies his exceptional desk skills to put him in confrontational situations where his technical / killing attributes threaten to derail his attempts, therefore the term "amateur" when describing his killer instincts, or rather lack thereof. He tracks down and relies on Esther (Tiffany Gray) who helps him on his quest.
From starting out as a spy thriller, it evolved more into a fast paced action film, with plenty of shooting scenes when Heller encounters either his wife's killers, or his employer's agents who are sent to stop him.
With hints of Jason Bourne, Mission Impossible and even James Bond, the premise is plausible, as is the country-hopping globetrotting, but the sum of the parts do not really combine to result in something more. But it is enjoyable and entertaining, and one for the family (12+).
Currently screening in Luxembourg at Kinepolis and CiNextDoor.
