Film Review – The Amateur

“The Amateur” began life as a 1981 novel by Robert Littell, who endeavored to give a tale of revenge a cold war spin to fit the mood of the era. His work has been brought to the screen by writers Ken Nolan and Gary Spinelli, who try to make the material relevant in a much more technologically advanced age. At the core of the story lies a one-man-army tale, and juicy one at that, putting a mousy C.I.A. employee on a hunt to take down the terrorists responsible for killing his wife. While “The Amateur” is pointed in the direction of cheap thrills, the script doesn’t follow through on the potential of the picture. A decent first half is replaced by a surprisingly snoozy second half, and while the cast does their part to add layers to their characters and maintain some level of presence, director James Hawes (“One Life”) seems allergic to excitement, offering audiences a mess of motivations and supporting players competing for attention in a slowly deflating movie. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com