TO BE OR NOT TO BE // A FILM REVIEW OF "A MOST WANTED MAN"
Terrorist or not a terrorist? That’s the question of this movie. A young man ends up in Hamburg, Germany after what seems a terrible and quite literally torturous trip. Some sketchy faces show up around him and his equally sketchy behavior puts the authorities on high alert. The men behind the security cameras of Hamburg start to question the guy’s intentions and no simple answers are found. In comes Gunther Bachmann (Philip Seymour Hoffman), the man who leads a team of investigators toward the truth. He is exhausted by the dark side of Hamburg, which is pretty damn dark in this movie, and by the adversity he faces from the top and from the Americans, but trudges one cigarette and stakeout after another.
Two beautiful ladies complicate things for him. As Gunther attempts to discover the identity and purpose of this man, Annabel Richter (Rachel McAdams), as a young law student with good intentions and fighting for the underdog, tries to keep it covered. And as Gunther hopes to unveil a major al Qaeda ring, Robin Wright works well in her role of Sullivan, an American diplomatic attaché that keeps him on his toes. In her we see much the same character as Claire Underwood, with more warmth and lightness, but the same amount of cutthroat. Another familiar face in this suspense flick is that of Willem Dafoe as Tommy Brue. Looking sharp in a tailored suit and a black Mercedes, Brue is the banker responsible for the large sums that could be legally bound to the terrorists. He wants to do the right thing, and it gets interesting.
The story is slow to develop which keeps the suspense at bay. A lot of time passes and not a lot of action. So slowly in fact that you’re left wondering how many packs of HB’s Phil smoked in the filming of this movie just between “Action!” and “Cut!” But it trudges on and you admit you actually like watching Phil smoke and a chance to see Rachel and Robin in action makes it even better. And after it’s all over you hope that Sullivan’s goal was achieved as it echoes in your ears: to make the world a safer place.
DEREK'S GRADE: B+
Written by Andrew Bovell and John le Carre Directed by Anton Corbijn Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rachel McAdams, Willem Dafoe, Robin Wright, Daniel Bruhl, Grigoriy Dobrygin
RATED R
FINAL THOUGHTS: This is strangely similar to what we saw on Homeland 5 years ago with a scarred and tortured potential terrorist who may be falling for a pretty blonde gal that’s on his case. The pretty blond gal is not the star though, and as the simple plot becomes an intellectual maze, what could have been a gripping movie is, well, still gripping because Philip Seymour Hoffman makes it so.
W. DEREK JORDEN is an actor currently living and working in New York City. He and his wife live on a Spaceship on the top of a building, which makes for some interesting dinner parties.