April 12, 2025 • 8 mins
ICYMI: ‘Later, with Mo’Kelly’ Presents – Mark Rahner’s review of the REMAKE & the ORIGINAL 20th Century Studios Espionage/Spy, Thriller “The Amateur” in the Rahner Report - KFI AM 640…Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to Later with Moe Kelly on demand from
KFI AM six forty, Nature.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Key, Mark Talks, Pontificates, bout pop Culture, ron and Report
with Mark Ronner.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
K if I AM six forty and YouTube. It's now
time for the Ronner Report with Mark Ronner.
Speaker 4 (00:34):
Okay, I hadn't seen much of Romy Mallick lately, and
I wanted to think he had the decency to go
into hiding for a while after being the worst James
Bond villain in the worst James Bond movie of all time,
No Time to Die in twenty twenty one. I know
he's been in other stuff, but in my fantasy world,
people feel shame and act accordingly. Now he's shown his
face again in a remake of a very good thriller
from nineteen eighty one called The Amateur. And here's some
(00:57):
of the trailer.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
I want to find and kill the people who murdered
my wife.
Speaker 4 (01:01):
This is a joke, right, Take it.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Take it, point it at my chest, do it now.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
You can't do what I do, no matter how much
I train you.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
You're just not a killer, durn.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
You were just a nerdy fell It works on computers.
Did you account the thing I'm good at.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
You held a gun to my wife's head to remote
controls the device decompressing the glass beneath you.
Speaker 4 (01:26):
You have the wrong person.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
No, I'm exactly the right person.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
This ends here.
Speaker 4 (01:43):
Are you done?
Speaker 1 (01:44):
No?
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Don't want them all.
Speaker 4 (01:47):
You recognize her.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
You jumped really fast, you might survive the glass right.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
If you've never seen the original version of The Amateur,
it was streaming on Hulu last I checked. If you
have seen it, it's probably one of your all time
favorite John Savage movies. Hello, yeah, if you're really nice
nothing no, no no. If you're young, like born after
a certain time, you should know that. Back in the
eighties we all look forward to the latest John Savage movie.
(02:17):
It was a real event. People had his poster on
their dorm room walls. When people did coke. The catchphrase was,
that was a Savage rail dude. Nah, that's all lies,
all of it. The Amateur was one of his few
starring vehicles after everybody from The Deer Hunter got big
in the late seventies. You may also remember him from
Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing. About a decade later.
The Amateur still had one foot in that more adult
(02:40):
smart thriller of the new Hollywood of the seventies. It
and this new remake are based on a novel by
Robert Little called The Amateur Colon, a novel of revenge.
We didn't really need the rest of that, and it's
a pretty cool twist on the revenge flick. Or I
guess I should say subgenre if I really want to
be insufferable. We'll talk about mees on sen at a
later date. Savage played a CIA computer expert whose wife
(03:02):
goes on and overseas trip in the original and gets
killed on live TV and a terrorist caper. His bosses
at the CIA won't do much about it, so he
more or less blackmails him into training him. He's a
whoosy and a nerd with no James Bond like skills whatsoever,
and he wants to go find and kill the terrorists himself.
The CIA bosses don't want to do this and would
like to screw him over, but he's a clever wos nerd.
(03:24):
He doesn't Jason Statham his way through his wife's killers
because people don't do that. He uses his wits to
wipe him out, also in ways that nobody really does,
but in ways that are more plausible for a normal
person who isn't an unbeatable superhero, martial artist, bodybuilder, killing machine.
If you've ever seen Three Days of the Condor with
Robert Redford as the analyst who gets swept into something
(03:48):
that's pretty much completely out of his lane, the amateur
could be sort of an inbred cousin, and they taught
each other how to tongue kiss. So I was game
for this remake. It's been more than forty years, and
now now there's plenty more for a tech nerd character
like this to deal with when striking out for homicidal revenge.
You get smartphones, you got surveillance cameras everywhere. Tawala coming
(04:10):
in and wanting you to look at his pictures of
huge roaches from the men's room on his phone, that
sort of thing. Rachel Brosnahan from Missus Mazel plays the
wife Julianne Nicholson who we've just been watching in Paradise
as the CIA director. She's your new go to mean
authority figure lady of a certain age. Laurence Fishburns the
experienced agent who figures out pretty quick he can't turn
the nerd into a human weapon and John Burnhal who
(04:32):
must contractually be in everything that John Carlo Esposito isn't in,
plays another Agent. I like revenge movies like this, and
it made me think of another damn good one I
only recently caught up with, called Blue Ruin, directed by
the same guy who did Rebel Ridge that we all loved,
Jeremy Solnier. It's a pretty nerve wracking journey, this Blue
Ruin movie. It's about an exceedingly average, non tough guy
(04:53):
absolutely determined to get revenge for something, no matter what
it costs him, and it costs him a lot. You
got to see Blue Ruin. That's from twenty three teen.
You can find that screen streaming too. There's your subgenre.
The amateur is watchable, not an instant classic solid, won't
be your favorite. When I think of remakes like The
Manchurian Candidate that was just instant mobile, instantly forgettable, useless,
(05:14):
and yes, horrible, this isn't in that category at all.
It's an entertaining update and it's a good vehicle for
romy Malik, who, whatever his other strengths are, he's not
a big alpha male action type. He's a little five
foot seven guy, which incidentally, is the same height as
John Savage from the original, and that concludes my height
based critique of this week's movies. Hugh Jackman was attached
(05:35):
to this movie initially, I would have been a whole
different ballgame.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
That would have been less believable because you've seen Hugh
Jackman as an action star.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
Yeah, he could do it. He's got the acting shops
to pull it off, but it wouldn't have been the
same movie. Now that we're really talking about this, look,
it's going to be streaming soon and you'll be telling
your kids someday lies about when you used to rush
out to the theaters did see the new Rami Malick movie.
If we have just a moment, I want to touch
on one other hot tip for people who prefer not
(06:06):
to go outdoors ever. To be is streaming both seasons
of the Human Target series from twenty ten with Mark Valley.
These are such fun, well made old school action adventure,
uncomplicated shows with some seriously fun fight set pieces stunts.
Valley is a cool action hero and he's clearly up
for the physical aspect. Here's a little trip down memory lane.
It's short.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
I'm want a cop, You're got a bodyguard.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
We'll be here to identify your problems, solve it gets
you out cleanly with no loose sends.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
But I can't do that unless you let me.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Perfect.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Hi, I'm Christopher Chance you're not one of them?
Speaker 3 (06:44):
Would we still be talking if I were.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
All got to do is get in there, identify the threat,
eliminated without causing international scene.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
Would be the first time with Cosway. Hey, did who
are you seem you can find guarrel? Let's bring him
in on this.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Wait, wait, wait a minute, now, you're not serious. You
think you're gonna fight back.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
I'll take the beating and then one night soon I'm
going to break in your houses and kill each of
you in your sleeve.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
Probably start with you off RIGHTO?
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Do you really think you can trust that animal?
Speaker 4 (07:11):
Sure?
Speaker 2 (07:12):
The ones we're paying one time?
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Your best? Where's my best?
Speaker 4 (07:25):
And that's a pretty good line, I'm your best? And
followed by a fight. Of course. That was Jackie Earl
Haley as one of the team members with a fairly
impressive huge wig and shades, calling everyone dude. Sean McBride's
the other partner, sort of a chronically unpleasant skuld who
always comes through in a pinch, then always complains about everything.
The Human Target's a DC Comics character who goes under
cover in all sorts of situations to protect people. There's
(07:48):
some good comic collections you can get from the library
or comic shops. I like the one from twenty twenty one.
Rick Springfield played the Human Target years before this.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Jesse's go.
Speaker 4 (07:59):
It's worth seeing now. Another version popped up on the
Arrow series. I haven't seen, but you don't have to
be neck deep in comic nerdism to dig this show.
Very fun, escapist stuff. Not that you need any reason
for escapism lately, because maybe you haven't looked at your
retirement money or were you thinking about buying a new truck?
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Nope?
Speaker 4 (08:18):
Do you have friends in Canada who won't talk to
you anymore? Do you want me to go on? Because
I could go on? How about your social security? It
seems like.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
You've convinced me to at least go see The Amateur.
I think I'm gonna go see that in theaters. I
want to see that. I've been looking forward to it.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
Like I said, it's not an immediate classic, but it's
fun and it's worth a watch, and you must see
the human target. I'm plowing through this. I never saw
the episodes when it was first on TV, and I'm unwinding,
right rewinding. I'm rewinding with that at the end of
the night.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
You're listening to Later with Moe Kelly on demand from
KFI AM six forty
You're listening to Later with Moe Kelly on demand from
KFI AM six forty, Nature.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Key, Mark Talks, Pontificates, bout pop Culture, ron and Report
with Mark Ronner.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
K if I AM six forty and YouTube. It's now
time for the Ronner Report with Mark Ronner.
Speaker 4 (00:34):
Okay, I hadn't seen much of Romy Mallick lately, and
I wanted to think he had the decency to go
into hiding for a while after being the worst James
Bond villain in the worst James Bond movie of all time,
No Time to Die in twenty twenty one. I know
he's been in other stuff, but in my fantasy world,
people feel shame and act accordingly. Now he's shown his
face again in a remake of a very good thriller
from nineteen eighty one called The Amateur. And here's some
(00:57):
of the trailer.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
I want to find and kill the people who murdered
my wife.
Speaker 4 (01:01):
This is a joke, right, Take it.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Take it, point it at my chest, do it now.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
You can't do what I do, no matter how much
I train you.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
You're just not a killer, durn.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
You were just a nerdy fell It works on computers.
Did you account the thing I'm good at.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
You held a gun to my wife's head to remote
controls the device decompressing the glass beneath you.
Speaker 4 (01:26):
You have the wrong person.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
No, I'm exactly the right person.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
This ends here.
Speaker 4 (01:43):
Are you done?
Speaker 1 (01:44):
No?
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Don't want them all.
Speaker 4 (01:47):
You recognize her.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
You jumped really fast, you might survive the glass right.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
If you've never seen the original version of The Amateur,
it was streaming on Hulu last I checked. If you
have seen it, it's probably one of your all time
favorite John Savage movies. Hello, yeah, if you're really nice
nothing no, no no. If you're young, like born after
a certain time, you should know that. Back in the
eighties we all look forward to the latest John Savage movie.
(02:17):
It was a real event. People had his poster on
their dorm room walls. When people did coke. The catchphrase was,
that was a Savage rail dude. Nah, that's all lies,
all of it. The Amateur was one of his few
starring vehicles after everybody from The Deer Hunter got big
in the late seventies. You may also remember him from
Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing. About a decade later.
The Amateur still had one foot in that more adult
(02:40):
smart thriller of the new Hollywood of the seventies. It
and this new remake are based on a novel by
Robert Little called The Amateur Colon, a novel of revenge.
We didn't really need the rest of that, and it's
a pretty cool twist on the revenge flick. Or I
guess I should say subgenre if I really want to
be insufferable. We'll talk about mees on sen at a
later date. Savage played a CIA computer expert whose wife
(03:02):
goes on and overseas trip in the original and gets
killed on live TV and a terrorist caper. His bosses
at the CIA won't do much about it, so he
more or less blackmails him into training him. He's a
whoosy and a nerd with no James Bond like skills whatsoever,
and he wants to go find and kill the terrorists himself.
The CIA bosses don't want to do this and would
like to screw him over, but he's a clever wos nerd.
(03:24):
He doesn't Jason Statham his way through his wife's killers
because people don't do that. He uses his wits to
wipe him out, also in ways that nobody really does,
but in ways that are more plausible for a normal
person who isn't an unbeatable superhero, martial artist, bodybuilder, killing machine.
If you've ever seen Three Days of the Condor with
Robert Redford as the analyst who gets swept into something
(03:48):
that's pretty much completely out of his lane, the amateur
could be sort of an inbred cousin, and they taught
each other how to tongue kiss. So I was game
for this remake. It's been more than forty years, and
now now there's plenty more for a tech nerd character
like this to deal with when striking out for homicidal revenge.
You get smartphones, you got surveillance cameras everywhere. Tawala coming
(04:10):
in and wanting you to look at his pictures of
huge roaches from the men's room on his phone, that
sort of thing. Rachel Brosnahan from Missus Mazel plays the
wife Julianne Nicholson who we've just been watching in Paradise
as the CIA director. She's your new go to mean
authority figure lady of a certain age. Laurence Fishburns the
experienced agent who figures out pretty quick he can't turn
the nerd into a human weapon and John Burnhal who
(04:32):
must contractually be in everything that John Carlo Esposito isn't in,
plays another Agent. I like revenge movies like this, and
it made me think of another damn good one I
only recently caught up with, called Blue Ruin, directed by
the same guy who did Rebel Ridge that we all loved,
Jeremy Solnier. It's a pretty nerve wracking journey, this Blue
Ruin movie. It's about an exceedingly average, non tough guy
(04:53):
absolutely determined to get revenge for something, no matter what
it costs him, and it costs him a lot. You
got to see Blue Ruin. That's from twenty three teen.
You can find that screen streaming too. There's your subgenre.
The amateur is watchable, not an instant classic solid, won't
be your favorite. When I think of remakes like The
Manchurian Candidate that was just instant mobile, instantly forgettable, useless,
(05:14):
and yes, horrible, this isn't in that category at all.
It's an entertaining update and it's a good vehicle for
romy Malik, who, whatever his other strengths are, he's not
a big alpha male action type. He's a little five
foot seven guy, which incidentally, is the same height as
John Savage from the original, and that concludes my height
based critique of this week's movies. Hugh Jackman was attached
(05:35):
to this movie initially, I would have been a whole
different ballgame.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
That would have been less believable because you've seen Hugh
Jackman as an action star.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
Yeah, he could do it. He's got the acting shops
to pull it off, but it wouldn't have been the
same movie. Now that we're really talking about this, look,
it's going to be streaming soon and you'll be telling
your kids someday lies about when you used to rush
out to the theaters did see the new Rami Malick movie.
If we have just a moment, I want to touch
on one other hot tip for people who prefer not
(06:06):
to go outdoors ever. To be is streaming both seasons
of the Human Target series from twenty ten with Mark Valley.
These are such fun, well made old school action adventure,
uncomplicated shows with some seriously fun fight set pieces stunts.
Valley is a cool action hero and he's clearly up
for the physical aspect. Here's a little trip down memory lane.
It's short.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
I'm want a cop, You're got a bodyguard.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
We'll be here to identify your problems, solve it gets
you out cleanly with no loose sends.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
But I can't do that unless you let me.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Perfect.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Hi, I'm Christopher Chance you're not one of them?
Speaker 3 (06:44):
Would we still be talking if I were.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
All got to do is get in there, identify the threat,
eliminated without causing international scene.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
Would be the first time with Cosway. Hey, did who
are you seem you can find guarrel? Let's bring him
in on this.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Wait, wait, wait a minute, now, you're not serious. You
think you're gonna fight back.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
I'll take the beating and then one night soon I'm
going to break in your houses and kill each of
you in your sleeve.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
Probably start with you off RIGHTO?
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Do you really think you can trust that animal?
Speaker 4 (07:11):
Sure?
Speaker 2 (07:12):
The ones we're paying one time?
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Your best? Where's my best?
Speaker 4 (07:25):
And that's a pretty good line, I'm your best? And
followed by a fight. Of course. That was Jackie Earl
Haley as one of the team members with a fairly
impressive huge wig and shades, calling everyone dude. Sean McBride's
the other partner, sort of a chronically unpleasant skuld who
always comes through in a pinch, then always complains about everything.
The Human Target's a DC Comics character who goes under
cover in all sorts of situations to protect people. There's
(07:48):
some good comic collections you can get from the library
or comic shops. I like the one from twenty twenty one.
Rick Springfield played the Human Target years before this.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Jesse's go.
Speaker 4 (07:59):
It's worth seeing now. Another version popped up on the
Arrow series. I haven't seen, but you don't have to
be neck deep in comic nerdism to dig this show.
Very fun, escapist stuff. Not that you need any reason
for escapism lately, because maybe you haven't looked at your
retirement money or were you thinking about buying a new truck?
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Nope?
Speaker 4 (08:18):
Do you have friends in Canada who won't talk to
you anymore? Do you want me to go on? Because
I could go on? How about your social security? It
seems like.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
You've convinced me to at least go see The Amateur.
I think I'm gonna go see that in theaters. I
want to see that. I've been looking forward to it.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
Like I said, it's not an immediate classic, but it's
fun and it's worth a watch, and you must see
the human target. I'm plowing through this. I never saw
the episodes when it was first on TV, and I'm unwinding,
right rewinding. I'm rewinding with that at the end of
the night.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
You're listening to Later with Moe Kelly on demand from
KFI AM six forty
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