A Most Wanted Man

The best way I can describe A Most Wanted Man in a sentence is, Picture Jason Bourne films, but with a lot less action in them, and probably a little bit more realistic... don't quote me on that.

A Most Wanted Man is the last complete film done by Phillip Seymour Hoffman before his untimely and unfortunate death early this year. While I think the Hunger Game films will probably be best known as his last films, this one was his absolute last one. And for last films, I have to say, its a pretty good one to go off on. I don't mean that in a coarse or disrespectful way, I only mean that its a film that really gives Hoffman his acting justice and gives him range to give us one last really good performance.

A Most Wanted Man focuses on a secret Intelligence Organization in the German government which for all purposes does not exist. Hoffman describes it as the organization nobody knows about and those who know about it despise the organization.

Hoffman plays Gunther Bachmann, the head of this secret team. He has particular interest in a young Chechniyan named Issa Karpov (played by Grigoriy Dobrygin) who has known ties with Chechniyan terrorists who entered Germany illegally.

Karpov is assisted by a young human rights lawyer named Annabel Richter (played by Rachel McAdams) who keeps him hidden while they figure out what to do with an inheritance his terrorist and wanted father left him in a bank run by a man named Tommy Brue. (played by Willem Defoe). All the while Gunther is looking into a bigger threat and Karpov could be only a small part to a bigger intelligence operation.

Oh and Robin Wright is a CIA agent... its an awesome part for her. In short, the German government and the CIA are also going after Karpov... its hard to explain without giving too much away.

This movie is a pureblood espionage spy film, made for the modern day. It points out some really interesting aspect about espionage today and some problems with American intelligence and how its a very different approach then the rest of the world.

Now I say take everything you liked about the Bourne films, take away the action, and you have A Most Wanted Man. There is possibly one scene that has the most action, its a very short scene, and its realistic, its not the fast pacedness of the Bourne film, its short, its sweet and you feel just kind of cheated... in a good way after it.

The thing I like about this film is that without much exposition or much background on these characters, this film is mostly about them reacting to the world around them, reacting to this very serious issue of immigration, terrorism, a post 9/11 world, and the world of intelligence. But the movie isn't on a soapbox. I don't think it will win any awards, its honestly not that deep of a film, its a espionage thriller. But the work of each character and actor playing them really makes the film really fascinating and makes you forget that a lot of it is Phillip Seymour Hoffman looking (with all due respect) like shit.

Gunther Bachmann isn't really given that much of a backstory in this film because its not totally necessary. He's given motivations and he has his demons and things that haunt him. He does a really good job. I really haven't seen Hoffman in enough, by himself, to really say if the guy was an actor I hold in high regard, even after his passing. But this movie makes me want to look into other films the man has done and give him a second look instead of basing all my assumptions on his work in Mission Impossible 3... I really didn't like that movie.

The other characters, for the most part, do a really good job. Willem Defoe is entertaining as always. Robin Wright gives as great of a performance as she does in House of Cards and they both have their element of the story that play huge roles that I feel the movie would be incomplete without.

Then there's Rachel McAdams and Grigority Dobrygin and their relationship. Now before I go on, McAdam's accent in this movie is just down right awful. Its kind of funny, but I don't think it detracts from the film... too much.

Put that aside though, I really liked the role each of these characters play. Dobrygin spends a lot of this movie just staring and not really saying much. There's an interesting question of redemption in this film for his character and while he's not the most developed or really that great of a character, you feel for him and his situation. But at the same time you're not sure if you should trust him.

And that's where McAdams character comes in. I love the idea that they were going for in this because there's a great scene where Hoffman just points out her vanity. She's this lawyer who "gives asylum to terrorists" because she wants to feel good about herself. She's so left wing and wants to see the good in people that she overlooks the danger she put herself and others in. While the movie is probably leaning a little left in political views itself, its a great commentary on the reality of terrorism in the world today. There's a great dynamic of the extremes in the issue. Do we go as far as Robin Wright goes to make sure terrorists are locked away to keep the world safe? Or do we open our arms to every person who claims to want a new life? Despite everything we know about them?

And that kind of brings me back to Gunther Bachmann. The guy is a good man. He's a character you like. Yet he's thrown into a world that is not a good world. He knows the rules of the game and he tries to do the right thing but that is not always done in a way that seems right.

I don't know, its an interesting concept and character for me and I really, really enjoyed it.

Is the film perfect? No. But the main reason that is is because I feel like the movie didn't take it all the way. I feel like this is an espionage thriller that has the inklings to do something more with it but doesn't quite go all the way. Its hard to explain but I feel like the main problem with this movie is that it probably would work better as an HBO series. I would've loved to see Hoffman in this role doing something like Spooks or 24...ish in a ten episode mini-series.

Who knows, maybe that might happen... probably not. But I can dream dammit. That's the beautiful thing about narratives today is that there's actually a variety of things you can do with these stories and a variety of mediums to take them in. This works great as a movie and I feel like it could have worked great as a mini series. I don't know, that probably wasn't, and probably never will be part of their plan for this movie but its fun to think about.

Overall, the film is a good time. Its a thinker and I could imagine it could get a little dry at times, but its a realistic spy thriller that is really a good time. Its a great final performance for a man who was taken from this world too early. And the film is really a great spy film without falling to the stereotypes and typical action heavy nuances of modern day spy films.

But those are my thoughts on A Most Wanted Man. What do you think? Comment and Discuss Below!

I'll leave you with this. The trailer for this film is actually a pretty good representation of the film. Take a look, let me know what you think. Enjoy!