Un homme très recherché

Günther Bachmann (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is a hard drinking German security agent spying on Hamburg's Muslim community and philanthropist Abdullah. Issa Karpov is an illegal that The Americans Martha Sullivan (Robin Wright) claims to be a Chechen terrorists. Bachmann wants to use him to make contact with an unknown banker. Refugee lawyer Annabel Richter (Rachel McAdams) takes on Karpov's case. He tells her to contact banker Tommy Brue (Willem Dafoe) about a mysterious account of over 10 Million Euros left by his Russian military commander father.

It's an interesting murky spy thriller from John le Carré. However it lacks any intensity. Hoffman delivers yet another solid performance. The plot demands intense energy but the movie doesn't allow it. I don't like the fake accented English from North American actors either. It makes the movie feel artificial. All the performances are solid but heavy. Everybody is prodding. There is simply no energy, no tension and no drive.

Anton Corbijn's tense, moody and brilliant adaptation of John le Carre's novel of the same name. The most fascinating aspect of this film is the fact that, the film being a spy thriller, there isn't a single shot of bullet fired; no dead bodies, no car chases, no stunts, or any such thing. Instead, it's observant, and follows our characters on their trail of a fund linked to a terror organization.

Philip Seymour Hoffman is the reason one should watch it. His character is intriguing and likable, but with this role, talented Mr. Hoffman shows us all the reasons we're going to miss him. This being his last completed film (before his death), combined with the thought-provoking ending, leaves one with a bittersweet feeling once the movie has ended. Like Hoffman himself, his character Gunter pours his heart and soul into only work he knows well. The last scene, with Hoffman's scream of despair, sent shivers down my spine; with the help of the mesmerizing final score, I was fixed to my seat till the credits rolled out. He also elevates the performances of his supporting actors, Willem Dafoe, Robin Wright and Rachel McAdams. German actors Daniel Bruhl and Kostja Ullmann, though present in the film, are not properly utilized.

After the various terror attacks around the world, many International agencies aim to curb it, but the way they get their job done differs from one agency to the other. Trying to do good is not only a difficult path in such scenarios, but often tends to be futile.

Greetings again from the darkness. If you aren't an avid reader of John le Carre' spy novels, perhaps you've seen movie versions such as Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Constant Gardener, or The Russia House. If not, how about director Anton Corbijn's previous film The Amercian (2010 with George Clooney)? The more you've read and seen these, the more you are prepared for this latest.

Mr. le Carre' actually was part of MI5 and MI6 (British Intelligence) and uses his experience even so many years ago to provide the type of post 9/11 anti-terrorism spy thriller that doesn't focus on explosions and gun play, but rather the subtleties of communication when very smart people go up against other very smart people who may or may not share their goals. Secrets and misdirection abound. Traps are set, and sly maneuverings are pre-planned.

As if all that weren't enough, how about another mesmerizing performance from the late Philip Seymour Hoffman? He is a master at the top of his craft here. Sure, maybe the German accent is a bit distracting at first, but it was necessary because movie audiences needed a constant reminder that he is not playing an American! I cannot explain how this chain-smoking, mumbling schlub can so dominate a scene and disappear into a character, but Hoffman most certainly does both.

In addition to a very cool script, excellent support work comes from Grigor Dobrygin as Issa, the central figure in Hoffman's character's work, Willem Dafoe as a somewhat shady banker, as well as Robin Wright, Daniel Bruhl, Nina Hoss, Homayoun Ershadi, and Rainer Bock. The only miscast is Rachel McAdams as rich girl turned terrorist sympathizer.

Parts of the score were excellent - the droning, ominous piano notes. The composer was Herbert Gronemeyer, a German rock star (you'd never know from the score). This is a delicious, challenging look at international spies and how one never knows where they fall on the food chain ... minnow, barracuda, shark. http://moviereviewsfromthedark.com/

Anton Corbijn's third feature is a solemn thriller that connects topical geo-social politics with the mundanity of everyday spycraft. It occupies the same brown-drenched bureaucratic landscape as an earlier John Le Carre adaptation, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. But while Tomas Alfredson's film was all about its dreary '70s setting, A Most Wanted Man brings the dreariness into the realm of post-9/11 (or 11/09, to give it a region-appropriate designation).

The plot is typically detailed and dense. Not so much twisty as, well, untrusting. A young Chechen man named Karpov (Grigoriy Dobrygin) washes up in Hamburg, seeking asylum. He's an illegal immigrant promised a vast sum of dirty money by his late father. It's money he doesn't want. Gunther Bachmann (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and his espionage team, via an idealistic lawyer (Rachel McAdams), arrange for Karpov to donate the inheritance to a high-profile Muslim philanthropist, in order to entrap the latter as he siphons the funds into a terrorist organisation. Naturally, things get messy, and the movie spends most of its time in a very grey area indeed.

After Control and The American, Corbijn is exploring another talented, troubled man, adrift and alone in a thankless world. The film belongs to Seymour Hoffman, transforming yet again, embodying the chain-smoking, coffee-spiking, yet professional spy at the story's heart. We know few facts about Bachmann, yet we feel like we know him (which is perhaps the definition of a great screen character). He's taciturn and monotone; haggard and stooped yet quietly confident, as if he's seen it all and won enough times to keep going. Just.

So, it's an actor's movie. Robin Wright revels in a snaky supporting role, representing the brutal pragmatism of the U.S., and Rachel McAdams makes the most of a gruelling role as a woman trying to do good in a world that rewards evil equally often.

Corbijn's film doesn't give away the magician's tricks – we are usually one step behind Gunther and his crew, watching as their plans unfold and succeed or fail before our eyes. It keeps the narrative ticking along, albeit slowly.

The pace isn't my main problem – it's the insufficient sense of danger. I don't think this is to do with the lack of car chases or scarily efficient murders. What's lacking is the shadow of imminent loss. A better film starring Seymour Hoffman such as The Ides of March managed this, so why not A Most Wanted Man? Perhaps it's more generic than it first appears. I mean, once the main players are introduced, it's fairly predictable how things will turn out; who the real bad guys will be. It feels like there's a killer moment – a scene of real cinematic distinction – missing from the movie.

And what about Karpov? I never got a handle on his plight. I was never moved by his agonising principles. It's as if Corbijn is so focused on nailing the minutiae of espionage that he forgot about the subtleties of the heart.

Slow, precise, atmospheric – all good things, although this is less emotionally involving than Control and not as bold and distinctive as The American. It's a mature, well-written, ensemble film, but one which lacks the oppressive dread and nail-biting urgency to be truly memorable.

We will, however, remember its supremely talented star. In the final shot, we realise how appropriate a swansong this is for the great, big man: understated, ambiguous, and secretly sad.

You are missed sir Philipp Seymour Hoffman. Brilliance in full display in this highly compelling espionage film, A Most Wanted Man. PSF simply dominates his scenes with subtlety, without the need to turn in a stagey, overcompensating effort. In the few scenes that warrants his aggression, you are absorbed by his thoughts, by his reason. He is a TRUE ARTIST. As for the film, suspense and intrigue does not let up as good vs bad takes an unclear shape, form and allegiance. Sreenplay deserves commendation as we are graciously subjected to seemingly REAL events, what actually happens behind closed doors in the world of intelligence. And that ending... 7.5/10 (probably deserves more).