THE AMATEUR : Tuesday 15th April 2025

I saw the M Rated 'THE AMATEUR' earlier this week at my local independent movie theatre, and this American vigilante action spy thriller film is Directed by James Hawes and is based on the 1981 novel of the same name by Robert Littell, which was previously adapted into a Canadian film that same year with John Savage, Christopher Plummer and Marthe Keller. James Hawes previous feature film making effort was 'One Life' in 2023, although he has Directed numerous TV series since the early 2000's, including multiple episodes of 'Doctor Who', 'Merlin', 'Penny Dreadful', 'Black Mirror', 'Snowpiercer' and 'Slow Horses'. The film was released in the US last week too, has so far grossed US$35M from a production budget of US$60M and has garnered mixed or average reviews. 

Here then, Charles 'Charlie' Heller (Rami Malek, who also Co-Produces here), is a brilliant yet deeply introverted CIA cryptographer, who as the film opens up is seen carefully unwrapping parts to restore an old Cessna single prop plane that was gifted to him by his wife Sarah (Rachel Brosnahan). Later that same day Sarah departs for London where she is attending a four day conference. She asks him to join her, but as usual he declines saying that he has too much important work to do at Langley. At the CIA's Decryption and Analysis division, Charlie has befriended a field agent nicknamed 'the Bear' (Jon Bernthal), and an anonymous source codenamed 'Inquiline'. 

Inquiline sends Charlie highly classified and heavily encrypted files that reveal Special Activities Centre Director and Charlie's boss Alex Moore (Holt McCallany) altered politically-motivated drone strikes as suicide bombings. Later that evening Charlie tries calling Sarah but he only goes through to her voicemail. The next morning Charlie subsequently is brought to CIA Director Samantha O'Brien (Julianne Nicholson), who informs him that Sarah has been killed in a terrorist attack in London. Charlie is disbelieving until he sees raw footage displayed on a TV screen in her office downloaded from a security camera in close proximity to the hotel where Sarah was shot execution style.

A grieving Charlie soon afterwards presents his own findings to Moore and his CIA Deputy Caleb Horowitz (Danny Sapani). After an arms deal gone wrong, four assailants took Sarah and others hostage, killing her before escaping. Charlie identifies the suspects, Belarusian criminal Mishka Blazhic (Marc Rissmann), South African ex-special forces operative Ellish (Joseph Millson), former Armenian intelligence officer Gretchen Frank (Barbara Probst), and elusive mastermind Horst Schiller (Michael Stuhlbarg), Sarah's killer. However, Moore and Horowitz insist they are working to take down Schiller's entire network, and as such tell Charlie to keep out. Determined to avenge Sarah, Charlie confronts Moore and Horowitz with his incriminating orders, which caused hundreds of civilian and allied casualties. Initially Moore brushes off the evidence laid before him, but Charlie then threatens to leak the information to the CIA Director and then the news channels. Charlie demands the available CIA resources to personally hunt down the four terrorists.

And so Charlie is sent off to train with Col. Robert Henderson (Laurence Fishburne) at Camp Peary. The gun-shy Charlie excels at bomb-making, but Henderson lays it out clearly on the line that he is simply not capable of killing anyone. Meanwhile, Moore and Horowitz mobilise a team of CIA operatives to search Charlie's home, office and anywhere he may have visited recently. They discover a CD he hid in a bar's jukebox, but realise he was bluffing when the CD is examined. Henderson is ordered to eliminate Charlie, who bugged the files he left in Moore's office, but he had already vacated his room and was on his way out of the country on a flight bound for London and then a train to Paris, using the fake ID documents he had been given by the CIA.

Charlie tracks down Gretchen Frank in Paris, following an on-line lock-picking tutorial to break into her apartment. He discovers Gretchen's appointment at an asthma and allergy clinic and takes a gun, but cannot bring himself to shoot her when she returns to her home. The next day he buys up all the lilies at a street florist shop, and he traps Gretchen at the clinic in a hypobaric chamber that he fills with the pollen extracted from the lilies. Charlie demands to know Schiller's location, but is unwilling to let Gretchen die and releases her. The pair fight, but she escapes to the street, followed in hot pursuit by Charlie, and is fatally struck by a passing van. Taking Gretchen's phone, Charlie catches a bus to Marseille where Henderson corners him in a bar, but he sets off an explosion in the mens rest room and escapes. 

He requests Inquiline's help and is smuggled to Istanbul, where Inquiline (Caitriona Balfe) reveals herself as the Russian widow of a murdered ex-KGB officer, having taken his place as Charlie's source some six years prior. They trace Blazhic to a luxury hotel in Madrid, while O'Brien learns Moore has sent Henderson after Charlie, and sends her own operative.

In Madrid, Charlie confronts Blazhic as he swims alone in the hotel's rooftop infinity pool perched sixteen storey's up between two towers. He has rigged scuba equipment to decompress the air between the pool's sheets of glass. When Blazhic refuses to answer any questions, Charlie at the press of a button shatters the glass and sends him plummeting to his death. He is nearly apprehended once again by Henderson, who is attacked by O'Brien's operative. In the ensuing struggle, Henderson is shot but kills the operative, allowing Charlie to escape once more. Horowitz realises that Charlie is communicating with someone by spotting an earpiece he is wearing in CCTV footage from the hotel. He tracks down Inquiline and sends a strike team from the CIA Field Office in Istanbul, and Inquiline is killed in a hail of rapid gun fire as she flees with Charlie in a car.

Charlie tracks down Ellish in Romania under the pretence of selling him missiles and traps him with an improvised explosive device that has a remotely activated motion sensor, forcing him to reveal that Schiller operates from a ship on the Baltic Sea. He takes Ellish's phone and leaves him to die in the explosion. Charlie arrives in Primorsk to spy on Schiller's operation. Bear confronts him in a dock side cafe, but Charlie refuses to end his personal vendetta, and so he leaves Charlie pondering his fate.

Charlie is captured and is taken aboard Schiller's ship, coming face-to-face with Sarah's killer. Schiller offers him a loaded gun and the chance to take his revenge. Standing over Schiller with the pistol pointed squarely at Schiller's head and within point blank range, he drops the gun and takes a seat. Charlie reveals that he just had to keep talking long enough as he hacked the ships control systems, steering it to the Gulf of Finland where Schiller and his crew are taken into custody by Finnish Police and Interpol. O'Brien goes public with her revelations about Moore and Horowitz who are later arrested for their unsanctioned operations. After being visited by a recovered Henderson, Charlie is seen taking his restored Cessna plane for its first flight.

With 'The Amateur' Director James Hawes has here delivered a fairly predictable by the numbers spy action thriller that is straight out of the Bourne, or Bond or M:I playbook, with locations spread far and wide, well choreographed action set pieces, but a plot that leaves a lot to be desired. That said it is still entertaining enough and Malek does his best at his portrayal of the CIA computer nerd thrust into a world that he is ill equipped to handle but nonetheless his very particular set of skills at the keyboard enable him to win the day over those bad terrorist types. It has a strong supporting cast with Holt McCallany and Laurence Fishburne as dependable as ever, but Jon Bernthal is wasted with about as much as three minutes in total of screen time out of a total run time of just a nudge over two hours. You can either choose to watch it at your local big screen Odeon or wait to catch it via streaming - either way you could do worse!

'The Amateur' warrants three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

BELFAST : Wednesday 9th February 2022.

I saw the M Rated 'BELFAST' last week at my local independent movie theatre, and this British coming of age comedy drama film is Written, Directed and Co-Produced by Kenneth Branagh whose previous film making credits include his 1989 debut feature 'Henry V' then 'Peter's Friends' in 1992, 'Mary Shelley's Frankenstein' in 1994, 'Sleuth' in 2007, 'Thor' in 2011, 'Murder on the Orient Express' in 2017, 'All Is True' in 2018, with 'Death on the Nile' released just last week. This film saw its World Premiere screening at the Telluride Film Festival in early September last year and also won the People's Choice Award at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival. The film was released in the US in mid-November 2021 and in the UK and Ireland on 21 January. It has received positive reviews from critics and has, so far, grossed over US$26M at the global Box Office, and has picked up thirty-eight award wins and another 230 nominations from around the awards and festivals circuit (many of those nods are still awaiting a final outcome at the time of writing).

The film charts the life of a working class Northern Irish Protestant family from the perspective of nine year old Buddy (Jude Hill), during the rise of the Troubles in Northern Ireland in Belfast, where Buddy and his family live. Father Pa (Jamie Dornan) works overseas in England on a construction project, while the family—Ma (Caitriona Balfe), elder brother Will (Lewis McAskie), and paternal grandparents Granny (Judi Dench) and Pop (Ciaran Hinds) live in Belfast. 

Opening up on 15th August 1969, a mob of angry Protestant loyalists randomly and without warning attack the homes and businesses of Catholics along the street where Buddy lives, smashing windows in, breaking down doors and torching a car. The local folk set up a barricade at the end of the street to prevent their re-entry, and Pa returns from England (as he does every other weekend) to check on the safety and security of his family. Buddy and Will attend church one Sunday without their parents on this occasion, and the minister delivers a fire and brimstone speech about choosing the right fork in the road - one which leads to the sanctity of heaven and the other to all damnation in hell. Buddy continues to reflect on the words of the minister throughout the film. At school, Buddy begins to develop feelings towards high-achieving Catholic classmate Catherine (Olive Tennant), and in time they become friends, so much so that in conversation with Pop, Buddy alludes to one day marrying her. 

In the meantime, local low level crim and Protestant loyalist Billy Clanton (Colin Morgan) approaches Pa demanding his involvement in 'the cause' but when Pa refuses, he turns aggressive and starts harassing Buddy saying that he expects his Pa to do the right thing. The family also is struggling to pay off their accumulated debts to the tax office. Pa produces brochures about emigrating to Sydney or Vancouver as the chance for the family to start afresh, however, as far as Ma is concerned this is not an option, as she is dead set against leaving her home, her friends and her family. But, on the other hand, she can no longer deny the option of leaving Belfast as the conflict deepens. Pa returns home after his fortnight in England and tells Ma that he has been offered a promotion in England to work on a five year long construction project that comes with a housing deal from his employers. His employers want an answer from him by Christmas. They try to discuss the matter with their boys, but Buddy has a melt down at the thought of leaving Belfast.

Buddy, local teenage girl Moira (Lara McDonnell) and another young lad attempt to steal chocolate bars from a sweet shop, but the plan goes south and Buddy narrowly escapes the clutches of the shop owner carrying a single bar of Turkish Delight. Moira chastises Buddy for making off with the sweet confection when there were Crunchie's and Flake's to be had instead. When later questioned by the Police, Buddy does not reveal his accomplices. Afterwards, suitably impressed by Buddy's resilience, Moira recruits him into her local gang, who participate in a looting of a mini-supermarket. A reluctant Buddy is forced into stealing something and grabs a box of laundry detergent before returning home and telling Ma of his activities. Ma berates him and immediately drags both Buddy and Moira back to the ongoing looting in order to return their stolen items. Billy Clanton then appears and shouts at them that they take things and don't put them back and promptly takes them hostage to leverage his own escape. Pa, Will and the British Army arrive at the scene to bring an end the riot. This results in a standoff with Billy who attempts a shootout until Pa and Will manage to disarm him. Billy is then arrested and swears retribution.

The Christmas deadline for Ma and Pa's decision to move to England comes and goes - and they further delay until Easter. In the meantime Pop has died. Realising that they are no longer safe in Belfast, the family decide to relocate to England. Before leaving, Buddy bids farewell to Catherine. He laments to Pa whether he could have pursued a future with her despite the fact she was a Catholic. Pa responds that it doesn't make a difference what culture, creed or beliefs someone has, they will always be welcome in their home. As Granny watches, the family boards a bus headed for the airport, saying to herself 'go, go now, and don't look back'. Granny is left alone after the death of her husband and the departure of her children and grandchildren, as she closes the door behind her and rests her head on the window, sobbing. 

'Belfast' is a film for the ages, and anyone who grew up in Britain during these turbulent times will be able to relate to Branagh's tender, whimsical, thought provoking semi-autobiographical offering, centred firmly in his young childhood formative years. The casting is top notch, and Jude Hill as the central character of Buddy is a standout, with equally impressive performances from Dornan, Balfe, Dench and Hinds who all deliver grounded, believable and relatable roles. Whilst the troubles of Northern Ireland are secondary to the plot here and there are no political machinations behind them, this is a film of family connectedness, community solidarity, fun and laughter, love and emotion, music and cinema as seen through the eyes of a nine year old who is struggling to come to terms with a changing world being ripped apart by violence. And within it, Branagh has crafted a crowd pleasing, awards worthy addition to his already impressive resume. 

'Belfast' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps. 

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

MONEY MONSTER : Friday 3rd June 2016.

'MONEY MONSTER' which I saw on Friday is Jodie Foster's fourth Directorial outing after 'Little Man Tate', 'Home for the Holidays', and 'The Beaver' and in this Wall Street set thriller she teams up with George Clooney who Co-Produces and acts with Julia Roberts in the lead roles. Made for US$27M the film has so far recouped US$67M since its mid-May Premier at Cannes and its release Stateside that same day, but has received mixed reviews from critics, despite this probably rating as Foster's best Directorial outing so far.



Our story opens with the news channels broadcasting to us that yesterday 'IBIS Clear Capital' stocks nosedived losing angry investors over $800M because of a 'glitch' in the computer trading algorithm used by that company. As Wall Street financial wunderkind and fast talking stock trading guru Lee Gates (George Clooney) is about to go to air on his own cable network show 'Money Monster', he remains calm, calculating and lighthearted despite recommending this blue chip stock to his viewers just one month ago - and on Wall Street it seems Gates has some clout and has served his investor viewers well in the past. But not today! The count down begins to Gates going live on air, with his long time Director Patty Fenn (Julia Roberts), in his ear and in front of the studio monitors every step of the way. They laugh and joke - it's a Friday - and the week is drawing to a close - what are their dinner plans for that night they quip from opposite ends of the Friday night dinner spectrum.

When the cameras role, its time for action and 'Money Monster' goes live to air with Gates opening up with a song & dance routine to introduce the show, and then quickly gets to grips with the IBIS Clear Capital meltdown of yesterday. He shakes it off in a cavalier kinda way saying that as investors you gotta roll with the punches, ride the ups and downs and take the rough with the smooth. He is hoping to get the IBIS CEO Walt Camby (Dominic West) on the show for some live Q&A, but has to settle for Chief Communications Officer Diane Lester (Caitriona Balfe) who is via a live feed on a monitor in the studio, because Camby is in flight somewhere heading to Geneva in one of his many private jets.

About five minutes into the show, a delivery man wanders onto the set carrying two boxes having negotiated his way easily enough past a napping team of security guards. Going along with what is thought to be a ruse, Gates soon realises that this delivery guy is no ordinary delivery guy as he pulls out a loaded weapon and starts firing randomly to draw attention to himself and capture the interest of the viewing public. The man in question is a Kyle Budwell (Jack O'Connell) who we learn quickly wants answers from Gates as to how and why IBIS tanked yesterday costing investors $800M and him personally his inherited life savings of $60K in a stock that he recommended as a sure bet only weeks before. Having made his intentions known on live television, Budwell orders Gates to open a box, pull out and put on what is contained therein - a vest containing semtex explosives with a hair trigger that Budwell keeps firmly held in his hand, but will detonate as soon as his thumb is released from the trigger.

Once Gates has got over his initial panic, and Budwell has taken charge of the on-camera events, so Fenn swings into action taking charge of the off-camera events albeit in direct communication with Gates via his ear piece and the New York Police Department who quickly assemble a team on the ground. She orders everyone to vacate the studio except for essential cameramen, sound technicians and a couple of assistants in her control room.  The on-camera dialogue continues as Gates tries to calm the situation and gain some control with Fenn's help. Gradually, Gates starts to feel some sympathy for Budwell, realising that he is from a working class background, struggling to make ends meet and he has indirectly compounded the situation. To placate Budwell, Gates says that he will get him the answers, and so he organises a live link up with IBIS CCO Lester in Camby's absence to provide some clarity. That doesn't go well as she says that she too lost money and it was just a 'glitch', and hey, shit happens!

Unaccepting that it is just a glitch, behind the scenes Fenn starts to do some digging as does Lester by tracking down who created the algorithm in the first place eventually tracing the programmer to Seoul, where she gets him on the phone. He states clearly that there is no way  he algorithm could take such a substantial and slanted position - it is mathematical code not designed to do so, and such an event could only occur with human intervention - guaranteed! As more becomes known about Budwell, we learn that his mother died six months earlier leaving him the $60K that he invested in IBIS based on Gates more than positive endorsement. We also learn that he has a girlfriend heavily pregnant with their first child, and that he earns $14 an hour labouring - barely enough to scrape together a living for the two of them let alone a third on the way. The Police bring her to the studio where she goes on air to talk him around and diffuse the matter, but instead she publicly berates and humiliates him with all the voracity of a woman scorned and on live TV for all the world to hear and see.

The Police SWAT Team have arrived meanwhile and have gained access to the studio with the aim of taking out Gates by shooting the bombs receiver which is located directly over his kidney - shoot the receiver and the bomb is diffused, but that means shooting Gates and there is an 80% chance he'll survive, and hey, he's got two kidneys anyway! Gates and Fenn don't know this, but soon do when an evacuated Assistant to Fenn down on the street overhears a conversation involving the Police and the SWAT guys that this is about to unfold. By now, Gates is sympathetic to Budwells position and has taken pity on the struggling man with a cause. He hatches a plan to vacate the studio and get to Federal Hall and confront Camby who has since flown in from Johannesburg it is revealed, and not Geneva where everyone thought he had been. Using Budwell as cover to prevent the SWAT Team from shooting out the vest's receiver, the two vacate the building with a cameraman, the Police following behind and onlookers lining the streets.

In the meantime, Fenn is on the ground following and giving instructions from an outside broadcast van. She contacts a group of hackers based in Iceland to dig into Camby's whereabouts in Johannesburg and uncover the truth behind his dealings there. Locating Camby at Federal Hall before he could bolt having been cornered by Lester who divulged that she knew he had lied about his whereabouts, Gates and Budwell position him so that he can not run away. Confronting Camby with what they know, having received video evidence from the ever so helpful Icelandic hackers, it turns out that the IBIS CEO syphoned off $800M to invest in a South African mining company whose stock value would be devalued by a made up union strike that would run longer than expected as a result of bribing the miners union. Buying the undervalued shares, he would then profit in the billions when normal work resumed and the share price rose to its former position and then some. But the plan backfired, when the miners remained on strike and IBIS buckled under the weight of its own trading position - nothing therefore to do with a glitch in the algorithm. Confronted with the video evidence which has now been beamed around the world, Camby admits the wrong doing which is all that Budwell wanted, and so he gives himself up willingly, whilst Camby has to face trial for various violation counts under the Foreign Investment Acts.

I did enjoy 'Money Monster' - it moves along a good pace, it is a solid enough story reasonably well told, the characters you can relate to, the lead players of Clooney and Roberts share an on-screen chemistry that we have seen before and which is evident here too, and Director Foster has further honed her film making skills to deliver a thrilling, dramatic and at times satirical look at Wall Street, those who work it, those who invest in it and how we consume it. However, for me the final chapter when everything comes together just so is a little too convenient, too contrived and too quick. The whole thing unfolds over a few hours one Friday during day time TV and serves to bring the whole sorry story for Budwell and Gates to a close in the way that we know is going to be inevitable. Certainly worth a look, entertaining if a little predictable.

  

-Steve, at Odeon Online-