“Every good man has a little bit of bad.”
Watching the final works of Philip Seymour Hoffman is a painful experience: both the magnitude of this talent and of his personal demons are increasingly apparent in his choice of characters.
As the leader of a spy unit in post-9/11 Hamburg, Hoffman is gut-heavy, boozy, manipulative, intimidating – but also magnetic with a gruffly paternal charm. It’s a stunning performance in a generally brilliant film.
Based on John le Carré’s novel the thriller focuses on both the intricies of spying and the macro negotiations between international justice departments.
Hoffman and his team are tracking Issa (Grigoriy Dobrygin), a Chechan-Russian refugee with terrorist ties. Their missions cleave to the formulae of traditional spy thrillers: notes passed in cigarette boxes, sly observing in seedy bars, chases and escapes through thumping nightclubs.
However, CIA agent (Robin Wright) and militant Russian authorities are attempting to hijack Hoffman’s long-game mission – it’s clear battles are being fought; not just on the ground but in boardrooms too.
Director Anton Corbijn navigates the wheelings and dealings, while also allowing his characters reveal their personal motivations. Issa may be a terrorist or merely a young man trying to shake a harrowing past; Rachel McAdams shines as his young lawyer, whose quest for justice may not be as pure or enlightened as it seems.
Yellow and blue tones capture Hamburg’s cold beauty. Hoffman, meanwhile, adds a layer a heartbreak to this smart, absorbing thriller.