A Most Wanted Man Review

I Kind Of Wanted More

The tragic loss of Philip Seymour Hoffman earlier this year affected the cinematic community profoundly. Luckily, the mans excellent work will continue to be cherished by moviegoers for untold ages to come. Even in a film like A Most Wanted Man, Hoffman still puts in commendable work that is more than worth noticing. I wish the rest of the movie followed suit though, as it's all just a bit of a slog that doesn't really get interesting until it its finale.


Hoffman plays Gunther Bachmann, a man in Hamburg, Germany who helps keep terrorism at bay. Such a massively important job can be grueling on a man, and I love how Hoffman make sure to show more than a bit of weariness in Gunther. Oh, he's still more than capable of being intimidating in an interrogation, or getting a job done. But the reliance on cigarettes, the constant alcohol and the occasional pang of indecisiveness make him a man who wants to help and stop horrific terrorism, but is being beaten down by the system of bureaucracy he works for.

We really need Rachael McAdams in more movies. Seriously, she's always so charming, and she's got a great sense of when to play he role subtle and when to more broad. It's really quite exciting to watch. I do feel the need to give special notice to Grigoriy Dobrygin, who plays Issa, a man whose past makes him a person of great interest for Bachmann. Dobrygin really kept me on my toes, as the way he tiptoes between unnerving and sympathetic in early scenes is nothing short of gripping.

But, now that I've praised three good actors in it, I'm afraid I must get to the lackluster elements of the film, many of which derive from a sloppy script written solely by Andrew Bovell. Bachmann works with a team of experts to crack down on terrorism, but few of the team members make an impression. These guys are trying to locate some of the most dangerous human beings on the planet, yet not an ounce of tension emerges simply because so much of the cast remains underdeveloped. The films large amount of uninteresting characters makes the films numerous dialogue heavy scenes feel at times excruciating. Even Hoffman can only make scenes with Dafoes character (who has a really distracting accent, though it's not quite Jon Voight in Anaconda bad. But still...) so watchable. As I said before, the finale works to a degree, but even then, it's more of the darker turns the plot takes (which are greatly appreciated) than anything having to do with the cast I've spent two hours with.

Director Anton Corbijn does a serviceable job in terms of directing duties. He doesn't really do anything truly commendable with the movie, but I will say he does a fine job with one tension-filled scene set on a train. I wish there was more positives to say about A Most Wanted Man, considering the fact that it has three particularly great performances. But frankly, the rest of the movie is kind of just tedious, resulting in a movie that leaves a lot of potential on the table.