Prime Video sleeper hit: Jon Bernthal’s 9/10 action thriller channels Bond and The Fugitive

So, Jon Bernthal is absolutely everywhere at the minute. You blink and there he is, The Accountant 2, another MCU outing, even popping up in Christopher Nolan's daftly ambitious take on The Odyssey. While Bernthal’s reputation leans heavy on action, anyone paying proper attention knows he’s got plenty of serious drama in his locker too. The man’s made a habit of stealing scenes, even if he’s nowhere near the top of the billing. Case in point: a certain spy thriller that barely made a ripple last year but is suddenly getting serious attention on streaming. Fancy seeing Jon Bernthal as a mysterious trouble-magnet in another man’s mess? Settle in.

The Appeal of ‘The Amateur’

The film in question is The Amateur, which wears its influences right on its sleeve—think ‘The Fugitive’ mashed with old-school Bond, conspiracies and all. It follows Charlie Heller (played by Rami Malek doing his best anxious genius), a cryptographer for the CIA with a slightly unhealthy work ethic. Charlie passes on a trip to London with his wife Sarah (Rachel Brosnahan), only for Sarah to die in a terrorist attack. Cue massive guilt, and Charlie diving head-first into a very personal quest for justice.

This is where it gets a tad spicy: Charlie is convinced the CIA isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and when his higher-ups stonewall him, he retaliates by threatening to leak evidence tying them to mass deaths (a bit dramatic, sure, but you’d be upset too). He ropes in Colonel Robert Henderson (Laurence Fishburne) for training—not that Charlie has any real business doing field work. With the CIA now after their own employee, Charlie goes full rogue, unravelling what may be a much deeper conspiracy.

The new ‘Amateur’ grossed $96 million worldwide—a tepid result given its $60 million budget.

The source material? It’s all based on Robert Littell’s 1981 novel (which also got a film adaptation that same year, with John Savage in the lead). The 2025 update didn’t exactly set box offices alight, pulling in $96 million worldwide against $60 million sunk in. Critics weren’t bowled over either—Rotten Tomatoes puts it at a 61% critic score. The audience, on the other hand, have gone in much stronger, clocking it at 87%—likely because it’s a proper old-fashioned action thriller that knows its target crowd.

Bernthal’s Brief but Punchy Turn

Bernthal, for his part, is Jackson O’Brien, known as the Bear—a funny bit of symmetry considering he’s also, well, THE Bear on TV. His job here is to pop up unannounced and try to talk Charlie down before everything kicks off. The Bear looks, acts, and feels like a man with secrets, and while Bernthal’s only around for a short stretch, he leaves an impression. It’s one of those roles where the actor is cast to radiate menace and mystery, even if the script doesn’t give him much to chew.

The film itself is arguably pretty thin in the writing department, but Bernthal just can’t help lifting things every time he’s onscreen, especially sharing scenes with Malek. He’s there as a background threat-turned-mentor, and even if you’re not entirely sure what his game is, you’re glad when he’s about.

• Rami Malek as Charlie Heller
• Rachel Brosnahan as Sarah Heller
• Laurence Fishburne as Colonel Robert Henderson
• Jon Bernthal as Jackson O’Brien/The Bear

It didn’t set the world on fire at release, but it’s finally found its stride—according to FlixPatrol, ‘The Amateur’ is now the No. 2 film on Prime Video’s Top 10, holding its own above stuff like Project Hail Mary, Uncharted, and The Sheep Detectives. Not a bad turnaround for something that nearly vanished without a trace in cinemas.