It is a performances centric movie

Good concept, poorly executed.

Don't Believe the Hype

Absolutely the worst movie.

This movie explores revenge, why, the morality, the effects, so it is somewhat deeper than your usual simple blood revenge flic.The movie starts out portraying the CIA as a bunch of boy scouts. I said to myself "Get real". However, as the layers of the onion peel off, a much darker picture emerges. I won't spoil the surprises.The movie has a very relaxed pace by modern standards.Nicholas Campbell plays a terrorist. You only get to see him for brief glimpses. His astounding good looks are distracting. It is hard to whip up fear or hate for someone so startlingly handsome.The movie keeps you guessing who is behind the relentless legions out to kill our naive hero. His endless narrow escapes from a variety of enemies severely stretch credulity. After all, before this began, he had never even held a gun.I really enjoyed the setting, Prague, including the beautiful warm cozy interiors. Exotic settings are a third of my enjoyment from the genre.Much of the dialog is not in English. There are no subtitles. This is an artistic device, since the hero has only shaky knowledge of languages other than English. It makes you see things from his point of view.The scene where the hero dispatches the female terrorist is shocking, even by today's gruesome standards, with much the effect the piano wire assassination had way back in From Russia With Love.

First of all, this is a movie, JUST a movie. I truly feel it was not meant to be a comment or criticism of the CIA or America. Please... reviews should be about the movie, not someone's political agenda OUTside of the movie.Heller's girlfriend is taken hostage & killed at the beginning of the movie by terrorists from an eastern block country (sorry, can't remember which). After meeting with her father, a Holocaust survivor, he is the one that tells him that vengeance may not bring her back from the dead, but it may bring HIM back. Heller (John Savage) works for the CIA doing ciphers. He asks them to go over there & assassinate the terrorists. When they refuse, he uses his knowledge & clearance to actually blackmail the CIA into letting him go over there himself. They are appalled, but they agree, thinking that they can find the blackmail documents before he gets through training & gets over there. From there the movie goes into the main plot of how he attempts to make this all work.The direction and pacing is fine... it's only slow if you are a 90's junkie that needs explosions and t&a every 15 mins. It's a story, a good one. The supporting roles are very well filled out by the likes of Marte Keller, Arthur Hill, Ed Lauter, and Jan Rubes. John Savage gives a very sensitive and believably vulnerable performance. As for him being wood-like (per another reviewer) the scene where he receives his girlfriend's last mailed "taped" letter to him is heart-wrenching. These are the kind of details that set up the credibility that this man would be so determined to revenge his girlfriend's death. Important stuff. This is a good movie, just enjoy it & stop saying to yourself, well, but what about _____? just go with the flow & you'll be very entertained.Another movie I recommend that is a good thriller that came out 2 years later is Enigma w/Martin Sheen.

This movie is along the lines of "Gorky Park," "The Macintosh Man" and "The Spy Who Came In from The Cold." That is, it's a dark, cerebral spy flick. I happen to love this type of movie. However, "The Amateur" pales in comparison to the others mentioned.It could have been remarkable. The basic concept is strong, and several scenes are excellent. However, much of the dialog and editing are plodding, awkward, and slow.Additionally, John Savage is one of the most wooden actors ever to find work in Hollywood. How anyone could have cast him in this role is beyond my comprehension. Keanu Reeves is positively Shakesperian by comparison.I can only imagine how good this film might have been with a little quicker editing, and, say, a young Paul Newman in the lead role.Still, if you're a fan of the genre, and can stay seated through the boring scenes, this is not a bad movie. -just far from a great one.

I found The Amateur to be thoroughly entertaining for the very reason some viewers may not like it. This is not a slick, gadget laden action flick. The hero is a very human, run of the mill intelligence analyst (not a super spy) whose determined to avenge the death of his love interest by terrorists. Truth be told, I think this is much closer to reality than most movies of this genre. If this film were released on video I believe it could easily become a cult classic. I would certainly buy it on DVD or video if it were available. Oh and by the way, even though it's not James Bond it does have some pretty interesting action sequences.