Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rachel McAdams, Grigoriy Dobrygin
An adaptation of a novel by John le Carré, A Most Wanted Man has gotten some rather unfortunate publicity, that of it being the final completed work of the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman, who died earlier this year, joining the likes of James Gandolfini and Robin Williams as noted actors whose recent passing comes ahead of some posthumous works.
With Hoffman in the leading role, is it a fitting send off for such a great actor? More or less. Hoffman spent much of his career in supporting roles, such as in The Big Lebowski or his collaborations with director Paul Thomas Anderson in Boogie Nights and Punch Drunk Love and those looking for Hoffman's late-career blooming might want to look up Anderson's The Master instead. However, A Most Wanted Man is still a very serviceable spy-thriller and Hoffman's performance as Gunter, a hard-drinking, perpetually-smoking German detective looking to find a man suspected of terrorist links escaping custody in Hamburg, which makes the film work.
A Most Wanted Man is set against the backdrop of post-9/11 Hamburg and whilst this is clear on a superficial level (the written prologue sets this up and the plot revolves around Islamic fundamentalist terrorism) the film owes more of a sense towards both Cold War thrillers and a slightly noir sensibility. Of course, le Carré's work is particularly associated with Cold War fiction (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and The Spy Who Came In From The Cold for example) but the scenery evokes an older Germany. Gunter walks along a long grey wall, recalling the Berlin Wall. There's a briefing amidst decor that perfectly fits late-70's/early-80's designs. The sense of East against West paranoia is thick in the air as our man on the run, while a muslim, is half-Russian and half-Chechnyan. Make no mistake, this is a Cold War movie that doesn't take place in the Cold War.
The noir aspect is mostly played through Gunter's role as the very noir-ish detective detailed above. But the film continuously moves around no real moral centre. There's no black and white for the most part, just a heap of grey. On the one hand, there's the authorities fighting terrorism. On the other are those providing shelter to a possibly innocent man, this side typified through Rachel McAdams as a compassionate human rights lawyer, sheltering the fugitive played by Grigoriy Dobrygin.
The problem with A Most Wanted Man is intrigue. The performances are great, even if it is a case of non-German actors speaking English with faux-German accents (McAdams' accent is particularly faltering at times) but it hangs around a story that feels rather limp and lacking in tension. This, like a lot of mystery thrillers is probably a "grower" of a film, so a second or third viewing is probably more rewarding as a viewer can piece together elements they're familiar with. The ending is also suitably cathartic and easily the best moment in the film, raising even greater issues.
I would like to see this film again, if only to delve deeper into its mystery, but it still does okay at making a first impression.
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