The best spy movies are built on their gray area, the thorny nuance of corruption, deceit and betrayal that keep the wheels turning and our minds guessing. “A Most Wanted Man” is all gray area, with a criminal without a plan or motive, a spy without authority or intentions and a government without regard or patience. Anton Corbijn’s film based on John le Carre’s novel is so densely plotted and hazy that it’s tough to see out the other side.
In Philip Seymour Hoffman’s last complete starring role, he plays Gunther Bachmann, a spy for the German government in Hamburg leading a team of terrorist insurgents so secret that even his unit isn’t officially recognized. For all intensive purposes, they do not even exist. Bachmann’s target is Abdullah (Homayoun Ershadi), a wealthy Muslim philanthropist he suspects is directly funneling money to Al Qaeda under the guise of his many charities.
When a half Russian and half Middle Eastern refugee named Issa Karpov (Girgoriy Dobrygin) shows up in Germany, his focus changes. Corbijn carefully leads us down a rabbit hole into believing he’s an imminent terrorist threat, but a wrinkle shows up in the form of the German lawyer Annabelle (Rachel McAdams). She shows us there may be reason to trust him, as he’s looking for asylum from the Russian government and is seeking a banker (Willem Dafoe) who may be of help.
“A Most Wanted Man” is easier to follow than the remarkably deep and jargon filled “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” another le Carre novel, but Corbijn’s film too is one of constant exposition. The talking is endless, the surveillance goes on behind closed doors and the action never truly starts.
Corbijn keeps the intrigue churning by exploring the endless web of boardroom meetings and spies throughout the German network. Everyone seems to be working for someone, and yet no one seems to be pulling all the strings. When things go wrong, there’s nothing that Bachmann or anyone else can do to put the pieces of their hard work into something meaningful.
For all the talk and the intricate plotting, “A Most Wanted Man” never reaches the sinister, minimal slow burn of Corbijn’s last film, the polarizing “The American.” It also lacks the visual nuance and careful construction of “Tinker Tailor.”
Yet what it lacks in flair it makes up for in its performances. Hoffman has long been a character actor capable of simply melting into whatever role he assumed while still maintaining his dark humor and his creepy spark. Here he dons a measured accent and wears his sickly, pale complexion as a badge of honor on the job. If the film keeps the true intention of these spies and its eponymous chase subject under wraps, Hoffman is a big part of that layered mystique.
Sadly we won’t get another Hoffman performance quite as good as he is here. His recent loss feels as though higher powers have erased so much good will and hard work in a swift swoop, and in that way, “A Most Wanted Man” may be his perfect swan song.
3 stars
Planning to see this one and happy to hear that his acting here is as good as ever.