A Most Wanted Man

Philip Seymour Hoffman in "A Man Most Wanted"

This film started slowly and from the first crucial frame I thought "this is not going to be a visual film".  But it did turn out to be a great character study and spy thriller, based on the book by John Le Carre.  It was set in Hamburg, where the security forces are super-sensitive, and centred on a young asylum seeker from Chechnya whose every move was being charted with suspicion by spy networks, including the CIA and the group run by Hoffman's character. 

Hoffman played Gunther Bachmann as  the archetypical Le Carre spy -  a weary, stressed-out, chain smoking, hard drinking and unscrupulous man with a moral agenda.  Philip Seymour Hoffman, who tragically died earlier this year from a suspected drug overdose,  gave a wonderfully powerful, moving and subtle performance just like the master actor he was.  Thank you Hoffman for delving so deep into the character and giving such a truthful performance. 

Good too for Le Carre to write another book about issues in the contemporary world.