Overrated and overhyped

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

I know that a lot of the reviews are not complementary. The protagonist isn't a major star, he's not strikingly handsome, not well known, even in supporting roles. I believe that these are the main reasons the movie didn't get great credit. John Savage is a very good actor, but not spectacular; he's a low-key cameo and supporting type. However, in this movie, and in another ("Inside Moves"), he is outstanding. Why? For the reasons I just gave.He is everyman, stuck in a place where he has to choose to do what he thinks is right. And those choices are very difficult. Savage plays this type to perfection. Taking what is dished out, and trying to struggle through. The settings in this show are really cool; "Third Man" type towns and neighborhoods where the genre thrives. The parts are developed to the necessary point, and the action is slow (if you're looking for Chuck Norris stuff, don't bother), but steady, with the hits spiking the inexorable pressure of the plot.I know I haven't told you very much about the content, save the basic design, but, see it for yourself, and decide how you'd feel, and what you'd do. Then put yourself in those really cool spy-ish settings and see what you think for yourself.

This isn't anti-American nonsense, despite the protest of one viewer. Why would it be outrageous to assume that this is indeed how the CIA operates at times? Siding secretly with certain members staging terrorist threats in order to advance a policy agenda? Maybe it doesn't occur exactly as displayed in the sometimes confusing and poorly paced 'The Amateur', but if recent films like 'Syriana', which are based on the documented experiences of agency insiders, then it is not entirely impossible. In fact, such movies should've done a better job of shattering the ultra-patriotic myths that, at least within the vocal majority, define the perceptions of America.This is the story of a CIA agent who's wife was a hostage in a terrorist invasion in Munich. She was killed and he's not sure exactly how to move on until a friend, a Holocaust survivor, had told his own story of how he tracked down the doctor in the death camps who gassed his family and strangled him. The idiot agent, however, decides to ask for official permission to personally avenge the terrorists that murdered his wife. A ciphering expert, he blackmails the agency with evidence of their own foreign foul play which in turn, can be leaked to the public. But, the terrorists are not exactly who they seem to be, and his travels in Czechoslovakia, tracking them down, soon turn deadly when he is chased around by other agents looking to kill him.The problem with a lot of political espionage films is that they tend to involve too many characters who are introduced into an already complex plot of treason and dispute. Their placement in the story is often explained long after their introduction, as are their names, and further make things difficult for the viewer to sort out in his head as the events pass. Moreover, a good deal of the beginning of this film, setting the ground work for what the agent wants to do, is played out with such slow pacing, none of the action really seems to come about until the later half of the second act.I suspect this one was based on a true story, judging by the words summing up the post-film fate of the characters.

Typical freaking Hollywood anti-American nonsense! This movie takes place back when you had terrorist gangs from East Germany infiltrating into the West, robbing banks and killing business executives, then skipping back into the East. The movie deals with a botched CIA effort to infiltrate one of these terrorist groups which causes an innocent American civilian to get killed. The movie makes the CIA into the villain and actually has the KGB chief in East Germany (the guy controlling the murderous terrorists) as a sympathetic character. Well TICKLE ME HARD WITH A CHAINSAW! I WANT the CIA to have teams of assassins going around looking for fluking Al Qaeda operatives. If Bill Clinton had not been such a wimp(if he had REALLY believed that the USA was right to fight terrorists), he would have had Osama Bin Laden assassinated in the late 90s. Clinton missed SIX opportunities to kill Bin Laden...as a result, 3,000 Americans died.This is the same stupidity behind the remake of THE BOURNE IDENTITY. During a time when the country is at war, take a book in which the CIA represents the good guys and turn them into the bad guys! I spit at Hollywood!

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.