A Most Wanted Man

First Hit: Better than Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy but the pall of Hoffman’s death kept creeping into my thoughts while watching.

Upon seeing Hoffman, I found myself looking for the signs of his real life struggle. His overweight, chain smoking and heavy drinking character Gunther Bachmann was one having a difficult life as well.

As an unsupported German government terrorist finder, he’s got a small team of people who work to befriend, interrogate (nicely) and influence people to assist him to find the people who fund Islamic terrorist activities around the world. His team does it methodically and not reactively.

However, the CIA and the German government only gives him a short leash and their ever-present pushing create a more difficult environment him and his team to work in.

The film takes place in Hamburg (one of my favorite German cities) with its water, canals, and mixture of old and new architecture. The pacing of this film is on the slow methodical side but it fits with the story. The film is dark in mood and I don’t think I saw one scene where the sun shines as well.

Hoffman embodies his character with an odd inconsistent accent. Girgoriy Dobrygin as Issa Karpov (as suspected terrorist) was very good. His sullen, eyes down view of the world was very powerful and believable. Mehdi Dehbi as Jamal was very good because he embodied the scared but determined informer he was. Nina Hoss as Irna Frey (Bachmann’s right hand person) was very good. Rachel McAdams as Annabel Richter (lawyer for Karpov) was really good. I liked the brightness she brought to the film. Robin Wright as Martha Sullivan (CIA head in Germany) was very strong. Willem Dafoe as Tommy Brue (Banker who manages his deceased father’s bank of ill-gotten money) is also very strong. Andrew Bovell wrote a clear screen play of this John le Carre novel. This was better than the muddied screen play for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy novel. Anton Corbijn directed this dark sullen film with a clear deft of hand.

Overall: This film was much better than I thought it would be but the pall of Hoffman’s recent death carried through my heart as I watched it.

The American

First Hit: Settle in with the pacing and look closely at the details of this film and it comes across as very good, but if one is impatient the subtle features of this film will blow by and the film is slow and boring.

George Clooney can pick interesting films to be in. Generally, he gets about 80 – 95% of all the screen time and he will make it work.

We start with him enjoying an intimate moment with a beautiful girl in a very stark snow covered area of Sweden. You notice right away, that he says little with his mouth in this film, but he’s always speaking volumes with his actions and eyes.

They go for a walk and they notice a single track in the snow, he springs to action and hides them behind a rock just as shots ring as bullets explode next to him. He pulls a gun out and she is shocked. Within a few short minutes kills the perpetrator who is hunting him. He tells her to go call the police and as soon as she starts walking away he shoots her in the back of the skull, then he hunts down the shooter’s counterpart who is waiting in a car and kills him as well.

All of this is done with no emotion; just the coldness of a killer is reflected on his face. Yes there is a little bit of fear, but it is all under control. Clooney plays Jack or Edward as someone who has done this for years, is out of touch with his feeling for another person except a women or two who he meets in a bordello.

He is a loner. He is a hunter. He is the hunted. He is alone and doesn’t want to be. He goes to hide out in Italy and picks up a job to make a specific kind of weapon but, this time, he doesn’t have to be “the trigger”.

Clooney is effectively aloof and engaged as Jack/Edward. He shows just enough emotion through his eyes and tight mouth to say a lot through the film but he actually has very little to say. Violante Placido as Clara, a hooker he falls for, is excellent. Paolo Bonacelli as Father Benedetto is wonderful as the probing and interested man Clooney listens to while in Italy. Thekla Reuten plays Mathilde, an assassin like Cloony, and displays the same cold-heartedness very well. Anton Corbijn directed this film with a strong European hand by keeping the pacing even while creating an evolving level of intensity. The shots of this part of Italy were outstanding.

Overall: This was a slow but very well paced film with more movement than dialog to move the story along.