A Most Wanted Man is a spy/thriller that is based on a novel by John le Carré. It debuted on July 25, 2014 in America.
When the film opens, we are introduced to the German spy agent Günther Bachmann (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who begins investigating a Chechen immigrant, Issa Karpov (Grigoriy Dobrygin). Gunther thinks that he is involved in terrorist attacks around the world.
Issa seeks refuge in Hamburg, Germany after he is released from a Russian prison where he was beaten and tortured. He has come to Germany to retrieve his inheritance of over ten million euros that his father had left him. He seeks the advice of attorney Annabel Richter (Rachel McAdams), who is well known for obliging Islam terrorists. At Issa’s request she sets up an appointment with the German banker, Tommy Brue (Williem Dafoe), to tell him that Issa is in Germany and wants his money. Tommy is in disbelieve and requests to meet with Issa to see if he can identify himself, but after Issa proves his identity to him, he still does not trust him and refuses to hand over the money to him.
Günther meets with Tommy and convinces him to give Issa the money so the German intelligence team can monitor him and see what he does with it. Instead of keeping the money, Karpov decides to give the entirety of his inheritance to Dr. Faisal Abdullah (Homayoun Ershadi), who Bachmann thinks is responsible for financing and supporting terrorists.
Bachmann likes to work off of gut instinct, instead of rash speculations like the American spies. He sets up a secret meeting with the American spies and lets them in on his plans. They are becoming impatient with him, think that he is washed up and will fail in this very important mission. He continues to believe that Issa is innocent in all this and requests German officials to grant him asylum and a passport, which they agree to do.
Bachmann has a sure fire way of catching Abdullah in the act of sending monies to a fraud shipping business, but he does not want the American spies to get involved or interfere in his stratagem. He assures Annabel that Issa will be a free man as soon as he arrests Abdullah.
Will Günther be able to follow through with his plans and catch the true terrorist supporter or will the Americans take down the operation? Will Issa be able to live as a free man in Hamburg or will he continue to suffer for his father’s illegalities?
Review
A Most Wanted Man is definitely worth a watch, especially if you are a fan of Seymour Hoffman. This film is a slow burning spy thriller that does not have any murders or torture scenes, which I didn’t mind. Philip Seymour Hoffman should be commended in his role and did a superb job, as he always did. Too bad he is no longer around to show off his expertise acting in another movie role. All the other main and supporting cast did an excellent job in their roles, as well.
This film is definitely unlike other spy movies, in that it does not have a lot of gruesome murder scenes, no sex scenes and no vulgar dialogue. Just a warning if you have not watched this film yet, you will need to be intensely focused on the entirety of the film in order to comprehend it. A Most Wanted Man is a masterpiece and deserves a rating as such an 8 out of 10.
Jay Skelton is a fan of all television shows and movies. He tries his best to keep up with the latest foreign television shows and movies. Jay loves skinny dipping in the dark too.
