FILM REVIEW: "A Most Wanted Man"

I just watched a two-hour movie and besides knowing my popcorn was stale, I was clueless about what was happening the whole time. This was odd since the film was in English which is my native tongue. It starred my favorite actor, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, who remains my favorite despite his being dead and despite him being not all that good in this film. In fact, this, one of his last films, may be what drove him to OD on heroin.

Robin Wright in her Hitler hair.

Dark, somber, and downright depressing at times, Hoffman's character, Gunther, a German spy or agent of some sort-- I am not sure for whom--spends almost all of his time either smoking cigarettes or drinking whiskey. It's either on the rocks or in his coffee or out of a flask, but whatever, it's definitely alcohol. That is the only thing I really knew for certain. Gunther, with a mild German accent that comes and goes, is tracking down a young Russian man who has arrived in the city of Hamburg via container ship, and that's never good. Apparently Hamburg was where the plotters of 9/11 did their plotting, and so the cops and all related law people are still paranoid and looking for anyone that smells like trouble. I think.

There's a rich Arab who might be supplying money to jihadists, or not. There's a pretty, young American lawyer (Rachel McAdams) who is helping the Russian guy get asylum so he won't be sent back to Russia where they tortured him, and he's got the scars to prove it.  Actress Robin Wright plays an American agent for someone. (My husband, who is very smart and saw the movie with me, said she was the Head of Spying.)  Wright looks rather mannish and sports a ridiculous black wig that looks like a giant Hitler's mustache plastered onto her head. Actor Willem Dafoe is mean and scary-looking but turns out to be a nice guy. Maybe.

There is no sex, no violence, and no action. There are no scenes involving food preparation or consumption. It's all quite drab and confusing. In fact, if you find this review confusing, I have done my job; now you know what seeing "A Most Wanted Man" is like. The ending is abrupt and answers nothing.