Warning: this article contains spoilers for The Amateur.
Rami Malek’s new spy thriller, The Amateur, serves as an adaptation of a 1981 book by Robert Littell, but there is one notable difference that actually works well in the new movie. The Amateur follows Charlie Heller, a CIA cryptographer who decides to find his own justice after a terrorist attack in London claims his wife’s life. Charlie travels the globe to hunt down the people involved in his wife’s death before ultimately finding his own peace in The Amateur‘s ending, leaving the door open for more adventures in the future.
The Amateur‘s reviews note that Malek’s performance is easily the highlight of the film. There are a few humorous moments as he struggles to adjust to his new life as an ᴀssᴀssin, but largely his performance works well thanks to the grief he is able to portray through the character. The Amateur avoids some of the spy genre tropes of the James Bond or Jason Bourne movies, and this actually works in the movie’s favor as Malek’s performance changes one book detail that would have majorly impacted the movie’s ending and tone.
Charlie Has A Romantic Relationship With The Book’s Version of Inquiline
Charlie & Elizabeth End Up Together
There are several differences between the original The Amateur book and the new movie, but one of the most significant is the relationship that Charlie develops with Elizabeth. In the book, Elizabeth is a former CIA agent who ends up helping Charlie get revenge on those who killed his fiancée. In the movie, this character’s name is changed to Inquiline, and she becomes an informant who Charlie seeks out to help him. While the two bond over the loss of their respective partners, there is no hint of romance between them.
Any future between the two is then cut short by Inquiline’s death, which does not happen to Elizabeth in the book or the 1981 movie.
In fact, the closest the two get is when Inquiline asks Charlie to sleep next to her in order to feel less alone, but the tone is melancholic rather than romantic. Any future between the two is then cut short by Inquiline’s death, which does not happen to Elizabeth in the book or the 1981 movie. Instead, in the process of getting revenge for his partner’s death, Charlie and Elizabeth become romantically involved in the original book, creating a somewhat happy ending for the main character.
Why The Amateur Removing Charlie’s New Relationship Works
Malek’s Character Is Very Melancholic
Spy movies including a love interest for their main character is a pretty common trope, so it is not surprising that this was the case for the book and the older movie. However, Rami Malek’s new version of The Amateur was actually better off for having taken out a potential romantic relationship between Charlie and Inquiline. Though the movie can struggle with pacing at times, The Amateur really benefits from some of the slower moments that truly allow Charlie to feel the loss of his wife.
Malek’s Charlie is a broken man who only turns to violence because he is overwhelmed by his grief and unable to process what a life without his wife would actually look like. It would not have made any sense for Charlie to move on from his wife so quickly, especially considering the lengths that he went to to avenge her death. It is essential for Charlie to find an ally in Inquiline, but their relationship is much more poignant as two people working to make sense of grief together, highlighting one of The Amateur‘s strongest themes.
