Although the work of British spy novelist John le Carre has
been adapted for the screen many times (most recently, TINKER TAILOR SOLIDER
SPY in 2011), it can often be difficult to access. His stories after all are
often a complex and tangled web of multi-layered plots and twisting deception.
The task of director Anton Corbijn in A MOST WANTED MAN was to find a balance
between a complex spy-story and movie-brevity, and to make a film befitting of
one actor’s committed performance.
When a Russian/Chechen immigrant arrives in Germany to
collect his father’s large inheritance, he catches the attention of the German
government’s secret anti-terrorism unit, led by Gunter (Philip Seymour
Hoffman), and the American CIA, led by Martha Sullivan (Robin Wright). The
immigrant, Karpov, (Grigoriy Dobrygin) is aided in collecting his millions by
radical lawyer Annabelle (Rachel McAdams), and corporate banker Brue (Willem
Dafoe).
The point of A MOST WANTED MAN is summed up late in the film
by Gunter when he uses an old fishing metaphor; it takes a minnow to catch a
barracuda, and it takes a barracuda to catch a shark. The simplicity of Karpov
looking to collect a multi-million dollar inheritance is only the beginning,
for as the film unfolds we see that these monies and where they may go have
bigger implications involving global security. All of this comes about through
a maze of deception and many turns, as characters are pitted against each other
and plot-points change by the minute. There is a constant game of chess going
on, and it is never quite clear what the true intentions of the characters are.
A MOST WANTED man is not only a guessing game for the characters, but for the
audience as well.
Director Anton Corbijn keeps the pacing at a slow, but
steady burn. It is a dialogue-heavy film with very little action, and certainly
sells itself as a patient and mature thinking-man’s film; the young and
impatient need not apply here. Corbijn keeps the characters at an arms-length;
we don’t really get to know them all that well, which actually helps the film
as we really don’t know who to trust ourselves. The film is beautiful to look
at and takes full advantage of its German (Hamburg) surroundings.
Rachel McAdams is the surprise of the film. She nails her
accent perfectly and sends a signal out to the world that she is ready to wear
adult clothing. Willem Dafoe is brilliant and does some serious work as a
conflicted man; possibly the best he’s done in a supporting role in a long
time. Everyone seems to be elevated by the work of Philip Seymour Hoffman, who
in his final role as a leading man, turns in an astounding performance. Hoffman
nails his accent and disguises his voice in a way that we would never guess it
was him if our eyes were closed. Hoffman is a fascinating chameleon here, and
from the first time he appears to the final frame when he walks out of the picture,
there is a constant feeling of melancholy knowing that we will never see this
brilliance again. But there is much to celebrate, as there could not be a
better film for him to bow out on.
All the many pieces and parts begin to come together nicely
towards the end, but just when we have things figured out, A MOST WANTED MAN wraps with a mind-blowing
shock of an ending which will have folk staggering out of the theatre, with a
full understanding of just how the spy and espionage game works. A MOST WANTED
MAN will be remembered in time as a great actor’s curtain call, but it should
also be heralded as exquisite filmmaking.
BOTTOM LINE: See it
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