A Most Wanted Man (2014)

Content by Tony Macklin. Originally published on July 23, 2014 @ tonymacklin.net.

A Most Wanted Man is The Spy Who Came in from the Tepid.

For much of its length, the adaptation by Aussie screenwriter Andrew Bovell, of a John le Carre novel, is espionage ennui.

Le Carre's writing has spirit, depth, and insight. Bovell's doesn't. Intrigue shouldn't be dull. A film about ennui shouldn't be an example of it.

A viewer doesn't necessarily need someone to root for, but at least some of the characters should be interesting.

A Most Wanted Man is the antidote to the flamboyant action films of the summer. And many will find it refreshing for that reason. But, until the ending, it's a one-punch film.

The slam-bang conclusion is the best part of the film. And that is crucial, because we leave the theater with the film still reverberating. Maybe for the first time.

A Most Wanted Man is the story of an Islamic, half-Chechen, half-Russian (Grigoriy Dobrygin) who sneaks into Hamburg, Germany, looking for refuge and something more. Is he a threat? He becomes the object of intent surveillance.

Involved are the German police, the German government, and the CIA. Leading a surveillance team is a German intelligence expert Gunther Bachmann (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Gunther has to keep rebuffing the other groups who want to capture the fugitive.

Philip Seymour Hoffman gives a serviceable performance. He's rumpled and unkempt. He smokes a lot and has an abject expression most of the film.

Grigoriy Dobrygin, as the fugitive, is one-dimensional. He's as listless as the screenplay writer Bovell.

I never thought I'd miss Piper Perabo, of tv's Covert Affairs, but Rachel McAdams, as the human-right lawyer, is on low batteries. A Most Wanted Man could use Piper's action stride and quick kick.

Willem Dafoe, as banker Thomas Brue, is the one compelling actor on the screen. He gives his part nuance and humanity.

Dutch director Anton Corbijn is a stylist. He directed The American (2010) with George Clooney. It was beautifully stylish but stilted and stunted.

In A Most Wanted Man he employs an abundance of close-ups, but not much insight. He also fragments his background - walls are in small sections. He splits a character's image - with a mirror, a sheet of plastic. But split images do not always make two characters; they may make half a character.

If you think that the height of suspense is whether or not a character will sign a document, then A Most Wanted Man should thrill you.