Review: A Most Wanted Man (2015)

[Mark R. Leeper]

A MOST WANTED MAN
(a film review by Mark R. Leeper)

CAPSULE: In his last leading role, and one of his
better ones, Philip Seymour Hoffman is in German
government anti-terrorist intelligence and is
tracking a Russian-Chechen who entered Germany and
Hamburg illegally. Based on John Le Carre's novel
this film is something of a workout for the viewer.
It does slow in the second half, but then builds to
a startling ending. Anton Corbijn directs an
adaptation by Andrew Bovell. Rating:
high +2 (-4 to +4) or 8/10

John Le Carre's stories are all densely written and require close
attention to follow. A good memory for character names and/or note
taking are suggested. Certainly that is true of the first half of
A MOST WANTED MAN. Frequently his view of the intelligence
community requires skills more like work than entertainment. In a
James Bond film one can be distracted by the scenery or by a female
without losing the thread of the story. Not so with a faithful
adaptation of a Le Carre story. So there is very little glamour in
intelligence as Le Carre presents it. I saw this film on DVD and
was glad of the opportunity to backup and re-listen to what is
being said. It is not helped by Hoffman's mumbling in English but
with a German accent. He smokes too much, drinks too much, and
cares too much. Somehow in a movie we can tell he smells of
cigarettes and sweat.

Hoffman plays Gunther Bachmann who has his own investigative team
planting an unlimited number of microphones and cameras to spy on
suspected spies, terrorists, and their allies. It is almost
comical to see him able to spy on just about anything no matter
where it happens. His team finds a Russian-Chechen, suspected
terrorist who has come to Hamburg to claim his inheritance from his
terrorist father. Bachman's team spies on and collect information
from anywhere they can get it to try to solve the enigma of the
intruder. In this Bachmann's superiors are totally unsympathetic,
making demands on Hoffmann and his team. Meanwhile Hoffman gets
unexpected support from the American CIA who have sent a
representative (Robin Wright) to benefit from Bachmann's findings.
For once the CIA happens to be pushing in Bachmann's favor.

It is interesting stylistically that the film chooses to substitute
German accents for German language. These days most films would
have German characters speak their own language and then would
subtitle it. That would probably limit a film's prospects. It is
an older convention to use foreign accents for foreign languages.

This is a view we rarely see of intelligence work with different
agencies pitted against each other as much as they are the enemy.
And just who the enemy is is far from clear. Not all of the fog of
war is on the battlefield. Hoffman's last leading role is it own
kind of spy film, far removed from the fields of James Bond. I
rate it high +2 on the -4 to +4 scale or 8/10. After a limited
release in August, 2014, the film is now on DVD and is rentable
(currently not streamable) from NetFlix.

Film Credits: <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1972571/combined>

What others are saying:
<http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/a_most_wanted_man/>


Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 2015 Mark R. Leeper