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A MOST WANTED MAN

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* * *

(Complicated,

disjointed spy thriller)

John le Carre’s popular spy novel is a good vehicle for Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s final film before his untimely death.

Hoffman plays Gunther Bachmann, a German terrorist tracker who works below the radar trying to uncover a scheme to launder money through a German bank to fund Islamic terrorists.

The good news is that the ensemble team of actors, including Willem Dafoe, Rachel McAdams and Robin Wright, give excellent performances. The bad news is that le Carre’s complicated writing has difficulty translating to the screen. The movie jumps around, back and forth for two hours, and you really have to pay attention.

Hoffman’s low key, chain-smoking character gains our sympathy throughout as he patiently and relentlessly tracks down an illegal guest who swims ashore from a container ship and finds refuge with relatives. A well-meaning, liberal lawyer (McAdams) tries to help him, finding herself deeply involved in something deeper and larger than she ever expected.

Meanwhile, Gunther is unwillingly joined by competing police agencies and an American “observer” (Robin Wright), who seem to be working in opposite directions, demanding quick action while Gunther wishes to proceed more cautiously. If all this sounds a bit complicated and disjointed, it is.

Dafoe plays a banker who becomes deeply involved in the proceedings, leading to a final tense showdown where a great deal of money is about to change hands. The ending is quite tense and a bit of a downer. The screen goes black. You sit there and wonder, “Did that really happen?”

Rated R for language. As a le Carre spy drama, most of the action is in the chase, with little violence.

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