Hey everyone! So as the Summer film season is entering its final month, it is appearing there will actually be several more coming out than I would have expected. Now, as always, whether all of them will end up WORTH having BEEN paid for and viewed….THAT remains to be seen! So, therefore, today was a chance on an Independent film that I had read some good word of mouth about from the film festival circuit, and a local theater had it still, therefore I present to you….”A Most Wanted Man”.
Based on the novel by John le Carré (“Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy“, “The Constant Gardner“, “The Tailor of Panama“, and “The Russia House“, all of which had films (see links) made from them as well) and directed by Anton Corbijn, who had mainly been known for video documentary and shorts from 1988-2006 until beginning his indie film career with 2007’s “Control” and 2010’s “The American” the latter starring George Clooney, “A Most Wanted Man” takes us into the foreign field of Hamburg, Germany and is focused on Gunther Bachmann (the late, superb Phillip Seymour Hoffman), a German intelligence officer on the trail of uncovering a possible money laundering and terrorist financing network being run by a known terrorist sympathizer, Dr. Abdullah (Homayoun Ershadi). We find Bachmann is a broken man, not just from years in the job he does, but apparently due to a tragic ending to a mission he ran once in another country, which he has never truly let go of. Chain smoking and very driven to regain his poise and purpose, Gunther and his team, along with a pre-established network of people he’s developed as assets inside Hamburg’s Islamic community, begin tracking associates of Abdullah’s, including a illegally immigrated half-Chechen, half-Russian Muslim extremist Issa Karpov (Grigoriy Dobrygin), who has come to Germany for reasons initially unknown. Through much digging, Gunther ultimately ties part of his presence in the city to a local banker, Tommy Brue (Willem Dafoe), who in turn has himself come in contact with another person entering the picture, a lawyer Annabel Richter (Rachel McAdams), who seems to have a vested interest in helping Issa to be both safe from the authorities, but also free from a past that is haunting him in order that he may actually live a normal life DESPITE his ghosts. To top this off, an American agent, Martha Sullivan (Robin Wright) is pushing Gunther to make the connections, provide the evidence of his terrorist financing theory and tie all the people he believes involved to it. So all of this is occurring at once as we see relationships formed, motives revealed, theories questioned, information gathered, and the stress of it all ON everyone who has a hand in it. Ultimately, it comes down to everything that can be done to “make the world a safer place”, something both Sullivan and Bachmann throw at each other wryly, but as with so many things that involve such risk…at what cost is this freedom gained and who really wins in the end, whether personally or professionally? Per my usual caution, giving any more detail than this would be entering the forbidden realm of spoilers, so thus ends these direct thoughts of the story.
Now, I have to admit right off the bat that I have actually never seen ANY of the other films based on Carre’s novels, and while ALL of them have had VERY good casts in them, this does not a good MOVIE make. I had honestly heard more overall negative comments about the films, mostly that they were……boring! Now I also have to say that just because this is a spy story effectively, that does NOT equal fast-paced action, and in the case of “Man”…it honestly means NO action. This film is strictly a VERY SLOW burn, very dry in its execution. This is all about the politics, maneuvering, back-alley dealings, and the monotony of the process to gain intelligence for the war on terror. It isn’t all guns blazing and car chases….it’s research, it’s bugging and monitoring locations to gather information, it’s about making assets out of people caught in the middle of a much bigger scenario than they even know, listening, watching….AND, it really is about what happens (and CAN happen) to everyone in it. The plot I summarized above truly is a bare bones explanation, as there is SO much going on, and very complex, one can get a tad lost in it all, which IS why you have to be willing to bear with it to get to the pay off. Not everyone is able to, or desires to, do that. That stated, I LIKED the film. Seeing Hoffman in this kind of role actually helped solidify for me how great of an actor he was, and that much more his loss IS a real loss to the art. His performance is seemingly so UNDERstated, that it ends up speaking volumes to what this character is going through, both externally and internally, as he tries to make something of himself…to get a REAL win again and redeem a past mistake that may or may NOT have been his fault. The rest of the supporting cast is fine and represents some superior pedigree especially in Dafoe, Wright, and McAdams. Filmed directly on location in Hamburg and Berlin, the whole FEEL of the film is dictated by the starkness of the cities and even the gray skies and rainy weather compliment the overall tone being presented with this story. Not having the other films to compare this one to, I still find myself thinking that I was glad to see it, but this will most likely be the ONE time I do. I appreciated and most certainly respected the acting (as indie films DO lend themselves so much better for actors to REALLY dig into their characters and ACT), the story IS engaging in its own right, BUT this isn’t the type if indie film that will warrant a repeat viewing, for me anyways.
As always, this is all for YOUR consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
