Year Released: 2025
Directed by: James Hawes
Starring: Rami Malek, Rachel Brosnahan, Caitríona Balfe, Michael Stuhlbarg, Laurence Fishburne
(PG-13, 124 min)
Genre: Action Thriller, Spy Drama

“He has an IQ of 170. Let's not underestimate him.” Caleb (The amateur’s boss)

Neo (Keanu Reeves) from The Matrix meets Charles Bronson from Death Wish.

Only the first part describes Charlie Heller (Oscar winner Rami Malek) a CIA cryptographer (a fancy name for a good guy trying to defend against hackers) until his wife Sarah (Rachel Brosnahan) is killed in a London terrorist attack.

That’s when the Charles Bronson/DeathWish part comes out.

Don’t expect any polished James Bond or Jason Bourne antics, though. Remember Charlie is kind of a geek –interesting looking,

but certainly not any Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, Daniel Craig, or Matt Damon.

Maybe a little like Charles Bronson, though, sometimes known as “il Brutto (The Ugly One)” by his fans in Italy.

So, despite his 170 IQ, it isn’t all smooth sailing in the revenge department for Charlie. Actually, he settles for letting his bosses take care of things when they give him the old stall tactic.

“We can’t get your guys yet, since they’re only little fish. We want the big fish.”

But that only works for a little while, especially when Inquiline, an anonymous source he probably should not be chatting with, tells him something different.

Don’t ever underestimate the geeks, whose social skills may be like Doc Martin, (or Elon Musk), but behind the keyboard our Charlie is as sexy a detective as Sam Spade.

That questionable source Inquiline gives Charlie leverage when he suspects a nefarious reason his bosses aren’t doing anything to find his wife’s killer: he gets permission to train to be a field agent not just the geek behind the keyboard, a little like Benji in the Mission Impossible films.

And his trainer is the wonderful Laurence Fishburne (believable at playing heroes or rogues, such as the Bowery King he plays in John Wick once again palling around again with his Matrix bud Keanu Reeves.

Whether he is a hero, a rogue, or something in between here, you will have to decide for yourself when you see this 2025 film (available in theaters or streaming for about 20 bucks).

***

The one thing that is clear in his training is that Charlie is not a killer, at least not according to Fishburne’s Colonel Hendo Henderson, but he is particularly good with explosives. What, we wonder, will become of that odd combination?

Charlie’s chase continues across the globe, from a Paris allergy clinic in a hyperbaric chamber where pollen becomes a lethal threat, to Marseille, and then Istanbul and to a luxury hotel in Madrid, where a swimming pool suspended between two high rises becomes something less than recreational for one of Sarah’s killers.

On to Romania, and then a ship in the Baltic sea, Russia, and the Gulf of Finland. Like a very slow fuse – our amateur has to use a you tube video to help him pick a lock – that threatens to go out a few times, the pacing is slow and uneven, but at least one viewer saw that a welcome twist from the slick action and revenge films Hollywood churns out.

I also found several others who hoped for a Tell No One twist that may or may not have panned out.

Generally, a solid film with quirky characters that do not fit the boxes you may want to put them into, but its lack of moral clarity and its holiday from reality leave us hanging rather than hanging in there many times.

The marriage between geek and killer is not any easy match, even in tinsel town.

–Kathy Borich
🥁 🥁 🥁 1/2

Trailer

Film-Loving Foodie

Charlie and “Inquiline” who turns out to be not quite what Charlie expected, trace one of the bad guys to a luxury hotel in Madrid.

Sure, they probably did not have the time to indulge in any Spanish delicacies, but I bet you do.

How about a simple Spanish cold soup, Gazpacho, perfect for these hot days and the fresh tomatoes you can pluck in your garden right now? Even the ones at the grocery store are ripe and vine ripened, I suspect.

I will let Jeanine tell us all about her delicious and easy recipe:

“If you’re not familiar with gazpacho, it’s a chilled soup that originated in Andalucía, Spain. Traditional recipes call for tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, and bread, which thickens the soup.

This recipe isn’t entirely authentic, but it has a lot in common with Spanish gazpacho. Tomatoes, cucumber, and olive oil make up its vibrant red base, garlic adds bite, and red wine vinegar gives it a delicious tang.

Complex, refreshing, and bursting with summer produce, it’s the perfect thing to make right now, when the days are hot and fresh tomatoes are at their peak.”

– Jeanine Donofrio

Gazpacho

Prep Time: 10minutes mins

Chilling Time: 2hours hrs

Total Time: 2hours hrs 10minutes mins

Serves 4 to 6
This gazpacho recipe is super easy to make - just blend and chill! Cold, complex, and refreshing, it's perfect for a hot summer day.

Ingredients

· 1 English cucumber

· 2½ pounds ripe tomatoes, chopped

· 2 fresno chiles, or ½ red bell pepper, stemmed and seeded

· ¼ small red onion, rinsed

· 2 garlic cloves

· ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish

· 3 tablespoons sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar

· ½ cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

· 1¼ teaspoons sea salt

· ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

· Cherry tomatoes, for garnish

· Fresh herbs, for garnish

Instructions

1. Finely chop ¼ of the cucumber and reserve for garnish.

2. Peel the remaining cucumber, cut into chunks, and transfer to a blender. Add the tomatoes, peppers, onion, garlic, cilantro, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Blend until smooth. Season to taste and chill for at least 2 hours.

3. Serve the soup garnished with the reserved diced cucumber, cherry tomatoes, fresh herbs, drizzles of olive oil, and freshly ground black pepper.

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