Theater Thursdays: ‘The Amateur’ is an aggressively familiar spy-thriller

Movie Meow: ‘The Amateur’ brings a new persona to the spy thriller

An everyday government decoder named Heller and his wife Sarah have what seems to be a satisfying life by most standards. They both work professional jobs and live a quiet life in their restored old farmhouse outside the bustling city. Well, like most love stories and Hollywood movies, things don’t quite go as planned. While away on a work conference in glamorous London, Sarah falls prey to a grim terrorist attack and spoiler alert (they gave it…

Theater Thursdays: ‘The Amateur’ is an aggressively familiar spy-thriller

There comes a time when the bare minimum should be considered completely unacceptable. James Hawes’ latest film, “The Amateur,” released in theaters nationwide on April 11, might just be the start of that timeline.  It has the familiar look of a standard action film, with bleak hues and shadowy interiors. Paired with that, however, is a story with as much succulence as a rice cake. It’s a predictable plot that borrows heavily from two of the mos…