A Most Wanted Man

With the untimely death of Philip Seymour Hoffman this year, his filmography is coming to a close.  This is one the last ones so it was worth a watch just for that.  PSH  playes the lead detective Gunther in Hamburg, Germany seeking to infiltrate the local Muslim community to prevent another 9/11.  The lead copy notes that inter agency strive led to 9/11 intelligence failures.

Based on a John Le Carre story, it plays in 1970s feel.  The Jackal here is Issa (Grigoriy Dobrygin) who is vaguely Chechen/Armenian/Russian - the Tsarnaev of Hamburg.  He even wears the hoodie for menacing looks.  He of course finds his way to the beautiful attorney Rachel McAdams who with her heart of gold will help him access funds from a Swiss-like banker, played of course by Willem Dafoe.

As you can tell, the various ethnic stereotypes are alive and well and on full display here.  Suspend a little disbelief and it's a somewhat enjoyable whodunit.  But not much more than that.

* * 1/2 of 4