A Most Wanted Man

When it was released, The American was the film of the year for me, so I was really looking forward to another film by the director Corbijn. I thought that it might be another slow-paced film, captivating the audience with acting performances and a completely realistic story. And since the main role was played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, I had hard time to keep my emotions in check, because he couldn’t deliver a better acting performance at the end of his career. As for the film itself, I understand some users at this site who were less than enthusiastic. Get ready for well-delivered realism with everything it entails, rough characters in the foreground of the whole story and a spy plot that not everyone will enjoy. But the tension is absolutely brilliant and the ending is the icing on the cake. I would say that the quality of this movie matches The American. Only we get to see a different story with different actors who are just as perfect as the American himself. For me, this is one of the best movies released this year. And not only thanks to Hoffman’s performance, even though that was a big part of it. (15/12/2014)

It's true that I watched the film in a pretty bad mood. I was looking forward to it mainly because of Hoffman, and in the end, that's what impressed me. The way he spoke in front of the main characters was absolutely brilliant. His acting was simply great, and it's such a shame that his life was cut short too soon. However, the film itself couldn't engage me with its stylization and cold approach. (30/10/2014)

I loved this film’s stubborn attempt at distracting the viewer from the important things, hiding the motivations of the main characters and breaking with the genre expectations derived from the “thriller” label, even if I admit that others may find it frustrating for the very same reasons. The ending is infuriating, and that’s the best thing about it. A point less for the behaviour of some of the characters (Dafoe’s in particular), I find it irritating, especially with the all cards on the table. (25/09/2014)

A film that makes sense and knows what it wants to say, in what form it wants to say it, with an unbelievably sharp and uncompromising atmosphere. The plot begins as if from the middle, and the viewer must build a relationship with the characters and unravel the plotlines and connections between them themselves from the first few minutes. There are shortcuts, supporting clues or placebo scenes. Proper filmmaking that, however, is overly austere and measured, allowing for an interestingly naturalistic view of terrorism, but at the same time unnecessarily slow, with plenty of dull scenes. Philip Seymour Hoffman was a great actor, and this old-school affair is not bad, just extremely viewer-unfriendly. (06/11/2014)

Besides being way too political for me, A Most Wanted Man deals with a topic that I don’t find interesting and is not engaging enough. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, which was also based on a book by John le Carré, was more interesting even in its filmmaking aspects. Seymour Hoffman’s minimalistic performance is excellent, however. (15/03/2016)