The Amateur is coming to Hulu next week, just over three months after it premiered in theaters. On Wednesday, Disney announced that The Amateur will be added to its subscription-based streaming service on Thursday, July 17th. The movie stars Rami Malek as a CIA analyst who leaves his desk job to seek revenge for his wife’s murder, and John Bernthal as a CIA field agent he has befriended. The movie got mixed reviews, and although it earned more than its production budget, it’s unclear if it was profitable. Its quick turn-around for streaming is surprising, though increasingly common for new movies these days.
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The Amateur is a classic revenge-driven action-thriller, though the twist is that Malek’s character, Charlie, does not seem to have the skills for it at first. Even his closest colleagues at the CIA don’t expect him to succeed in getting revenge for his wife, Sarah (Rachel Brosnahan), especially since they are actually responsible for her death. Even with some hasty training, Charlie is not proficient with a gun, and he struggles with the idea of taking a life with his own hands, but he excels at making improvised explosives. In many scenes, it’s his analytical mind as a cryptographer that serves him best.
It’s an interesting twist on this genre in theory, but critics generally felt it didn’t go far enough. Many thought that Charlie’s differences from a typical action hero failed to translate into the emotional stakes of the movie, which was especially frustrating as the movie utilized the unpopular trope of “fridging” to get the story started.
The Amateur scored 61% on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer, and is considered fresh overall. It did better with audiences, with an 88% positive score on the Popcornmeter and over 2,500 user-submitted reviews. Hopefully, streaming will allow the movie to find an even bigger audience. Some critics pointed out that the movie may have struggled to compete in theaters — it was released alongside A Minecraft Movie, Warefare, and Drop. The Amateur became available to rent or purchase digitally on June 10th, and it came out on Blu-ray earlier this week.
This may not be his most successful release of the year, but it’s still a part of a big year for Bernthal. The actor reprised his Marvel Cinematic Universe role as the Punisher in Daredevil: Born Again, and returned to co-star in the sequel The Accountant 2. He also appeared in The Bear Season 4 just last month, making him a familiar face on Hulu.
The Amateur will be streaming on Hulu starting on July 17th. The movie is available now on PVOD stores, and on Blu-ray.
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