A Most Wanted Man
Director: Anton Corbijn
Year Released: 2014
Rating: 2.0
Issa, a suspected terrorist from Chechnya (Grigoriy Dobrygin), winds up in Hamburg, Germany much to the alarm of German intelligence officer Bachmann (Philip Seymour Hoffman); there to aid the troubled Issa is a lawyer (Rachel McAdams) and a large fortune left in a bank (run by Willem Dafoe). Movie producers have a continued fascination with the work of John le Carré (born David Cornwell) that doesn't seem to translate to the big screen - though his methodical dissemination of the minutiae of the art of spying/espionage has made him a success on the page, the movies try too hard to cram all those little tidbits and interactions in a shortened time frame and, in this case, lose any potential tension and drama. Hoffman's chain-smoking, pessimistic (but wizened and intelligent) sad sack is the sole highlight of this, as he trudges through this apartment bugging or that interrogation: when it ends up with his plan foiled by outside forces (a very impatient CIA, it seems), his look of agony and defeat is unmistakable. Hoffman was an unforgettable performer, it's a shame this is such a forgettable movie.
