A Most Wanted Man (*½)
Directed by: Anton Corbijn
Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman,
Rachel McAdams, Willem Dafoe, Robin Wright, Grigoriy Dobrygin, Derya Alabora,
Daniel Brühl
Seen: October 26th 2014
*½ Out of ****
There are two types of spy movies. My
favourites are action-heavy ones like Mission: Impossible and the Bourne
movies, but I also enjoy more subdued spy movies that actually fly closer to
what it actually is like in real life, portraying the dull life some spies probably
live. Quite a few of these types of movies have been made based on John le Carré
novels, including The Tailor of Panama, The Constant Gardener, and Tinker
Tailor Soldier Spy. One problem I have with the second kind of spy movie is
that they can be boring if not well made. Now if the movie is well made it can
never be boring, as both brilliant movies The Constant Gardener and Tinker
Tailor Soldier Spy prove, and while I didn’t like the subject matter of The
Tailor of Panama, it wasn’t boring. A Most Wanted Man however, is boring.
Mind-numbingly so. Were it not for Philip Seymour Hoffman’s acting, I would
have fallen asleep early and all through the movie. That said, let me get on
with my review.
A Most Wanted Man starts with a
somewhat intriguing premise. Seemingly a destitute man, Issa Karpov (Dobrygin)
enters Hamburg, Germany. He lives one the streets but obtains a few things to ease
his survival. When he walks into a train station he is captured on a CCTV
camera, and the footage makes its way back to Günther Bachmann’s (Hoffman)
office. Bachmann is an American agent working in Germany, leading a small team
specialising in developing intelligence in the Muslim community. Their interest
is piqued when they learn from Russia that Karpov is a potentially dangerous
terrorist. They believe that Karpov may try to contact another suspect of
theirs, the Muslim philanthropist Dr. Abdullah, who they believe to be funding
terrorism, however they cannot prove it.
Karpov turns out to be a gentle man,
and he approaches Annabel Richter (McAdams), an immigration lawyer, to assist
him. Richter, acting on a letter Karpov carries, introduces him to Tommy Brue
(Dafoe), a banker who owns a family bank which, in his father’s tenure, had
possibly nefarious dealings with Karpov’s father. Bachmann and his team learn
of Karpov’s non-violent and non-terrorist intentions, and as Karpov wants
nothing to do with his father or the money, they ask him to donate the money to
Dr. Abdullah, hoping they can trace it to an Al Qaeda front. This sets thing
headed towards a final confrontation that turns out… unexpected.
A Most Wanted Man employs, to be
flippant, boring colours. Pale blues and faded natural palettes that suss
viewers into over-relaxation. Director Anton Corbijn has been making movies for
over 20 years, with his previous effort, the George Clooney led The American, a
far superior movie. The only thing I found positive is Hoffman’s performance as
the constantly frustrated intelligence operative; he is brilliant (I don’t say
this out of sympathetic guilt over his recent, and very sad death). Some may
enjoy A Most Wanted Man, as it has received positive reviews globally, but I didn’t,
and cannot in good conscience recommend it to anyone.
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