If you’re like me when you think of spy films the first
thing that pops into your head is James Bond. You think of the gadgets, the
girls and the suave, sophisticated agent doing his all to save the world.
Rarely does someone think of characters like George Smiley, the docile looking
bureaucrat from the John Le Carre novels that looked more like a banker than
the spies we were used to. But chances are in the real world that’s what spies
really look like. And Le Carre has made a career of writing about spies like
that.
A MOST WANTED MAN gives
us another spy of sorts from the real world in the person of Gunther Bachmann
(Philip Seymour Hoffman). Gunther is the head of an elite group in the German
government in charge of seeking out possible terrorists and preventing them
from attacks like those witnessed on 9/11. But the problems that occurred prior
to that date continue in this country where various organizations fail to work
together, each one wanting to take credit for the capture or killing of anyone
deemed dangerous. Gunther is more in line to try and put the person he’s after
to use where as his counterpart sees termination as the best possible solution.
Most of the movie revolves around Gunther’s team trying to
find and handle a young man named Issa, an illegal immigrant who has come to Germany
to collect an inheritance his father left him years ago. Where they first
suspect him of being dangerous the more they find out about him the less they
believe him to be a threat. Instead Gunther wants to use him to reach the
people he’s talking to, a banker and another man believed to be the main man in
Germany
funneling funds to terrorists. Gunther wants to use this man as a means to an
end. His counterpart just wants to take him down immediately so he can take
credit for one man eliminated from the list; he has no concept of the long term
goals that can be achieved.
The story offers a back and forth on two levels. The first
is the day to day handling of Issa and the people around him. How the team
convinces others to work with them, making promises they might not be able to
keep while influencing people with no known contacts with terrorists, make for
an interesting topic in the film. The second level is between Gunther and the
lead of his opposing team. Gunther wants to do the best work possible and
prevent any attacks in the long run, his opponent just wants praise for taking
someone out now.
While these stories are interesting in the long run they
make for a very dry movie. There is almost no action involved in this film.
There is plenty of discussion between characters and groups involved in the
story as well as with participants dragged into the skullduggery involved in
spying. It’s more of a wordy film than one might expect when the word spies is
used. If you know going in that the film moves at a slow pace then you will
enjoy it. If Bond is what you’re seeking then avoid it.
Many are flocking to this film and praising it solely
because it is considered the last starring role for Hoffman who died of a drug
overdose last year. Hoffman had a long career that had some great roles and
others that in my observations didn’t deserve the praise they received. Here he
turns in an admirable performance as the chain smoking tired looking government
bureaucrat trying to do his best and finding opponents on his side as well as
those against his country.
In the end I can’t recommend this movie for everyone but
fans of Le Carre will want to check it out. Fans of Hoffman will want to see
the movie as well. It isn’t a bad movie but you have to know what to expect
walking in. If you do you’ll find an entertaining evening here.
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