A Most Wanted Man

[Shapecharge]

I saw this on Saturday. This may have been one of the last acting efforts by Philip Seymour Hoffman before he died. The movie is based on a John Le Carre' novel so if you've seen a movie based on one of his books you know what you're in for...either you dig it totally or are completely bored out of your mind wondering what the fuck is going on. I'll say this...Hoffman was fucking mesmerising. Brilliant is not good enough. He's the head of a very small, secretive German anti-terrorist group that's able to act outside of German law. His team is paying particular attention to a prominent Muslim doctor who appears to be a moderate leader in the Muslim world but as always things aren't truly as they appear. Another guy mysteriously shows up making a claim to a small fortune held within a very private, specialized German bank, so now he's a person of interest as well. Hoffman's character is a spy as he states early in the film and he's in conflict with what appears to be the the head of the German state police who just wants to arrest everyone. So Hoffman's character has little time to make something happen. He's world weary, physically worn out and seems to be carrying an enormous burden of guilt from a past failure. I totally dug this movie and I've spent a lot of time thinking about it since I saw it on Saturday...I could see it all playing out this way in real life.

[seeahill]

Thanks for that Shape. I'll see it when I get the chance.

[Bram]

Heard this was great, looking forwards to checking it out. Thanks for the review

[dead man walking]

being a le carre fan, i read the book when it came out, but recall it only vaguely. le carre's cold war stuff was great, but the later books didn't hold me in the same way. i want to see this movie, though. your review sounds as though you've captured it well--confusing and mesmerizing, like life at its best.

[Grandpa's Spells]

Really good. I was unsatisfied with the ending but I think it's designed to be that way.

[baffled]

Watched this Saturday afternoon.

I dig these types of movies. The two movies I've seen that were based on le Carre books are way up on my list of favorite movies.

This and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

[Turdacious]

Watched this Saturday afternoon.

I dig these types of movies. The two movies I've seen that were based on le Carre books are way up on my list of favorite movies.

This and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

Check out the BBC version of TTSS too. Longer and even better.

[Shapecharge]

Interesting you bring up TTSS. I had been trying to watch this for months...I'd catch a small piece of it here and there on HBO so finally I recorded the whole fucking thing and watched it when the wife was out so I could pay close attention to it. I thought it was awesome as well. I hate to pass judegement on people but then do it anyway...someone I'm forced to deal with in my professional life that otherwise I wouldn't told me they went to see it and said she and her husband walked out of it because it was stupid, slow, and boring. All I did was smile.

[baffled]

Clearly a vacuous slut.

[Shapecharge]

You got it perfectly Baff. And yet another bullshit story on the A Most Wanted Man movie...so I was telling a couple of guys at work about it and one of them says to me that his 22 year old daughter and boyfriend talked about going to the movie. So I told him he needed to sell them on it, get them to go and let's see if a couple of twentysomethings can sit still long enough to watch a movie and actually pay attention. They went and he said they didn't last an hour, walked out and said it was stupid and didn't make any sense. I told him that unfortunately these are the people that are going to decide what nursing home to put him in.

[baffled]

I hope his daughter's on the pill and isn't about to breed anytime soon.

Movies are definitely a good way to judge someone's fitness to be a parent, imo.

[TerryB]

Movies are definitely a good way to judge someone's fitness to be a parent, imo.

OMG you and Shape are notorious consumers of terrible, infantile television shows!

[TerryB]

Also, I'm not watching this movie.

FYI

[Shapecharge]

Proto despite being an insufferable prick I still like you.

[TerryB]

Don't be so hard on yourself, Shape. You're many things but not insufferable.

[Shapecharge]

Don't twist my words!

[buckethead]

Great fucking movie. I cannot believe a) how it ended and 2) that not one person was killed in the entire movie about terrorism.

However I can believe that Rachel McAdams is the most beautiful woman on the planet

[Fat Cat]

Too long, got bored.

[Mickey O'neil]

I'm about to give this a go.

[Mickey O'neil]

I thought it was very good.

[The Crawdaddy]

Finally got around to this last night. Even the better half thought it was great. Hoffman was fantastic. Some typical LeCarre dry spots, but he writes drama, not action.

[baffled]

Movies are definitely a good way to judge someone's fitness to be a parent, imo.

OMG you and Shape are notorious consumers of terrible, infantile television shows!

I hope you're fixed.