Anton Corbijn follows up The American, his intriguing formalistic pairing with George Clooney, with a thriller based on a John le Carré novel that will likely draw far more notice, since the release is one of the last to feature Philip Seymour Hoffman. The narrative — the tale of a tortured Chechen-Russian immigrant who surfaces among the Islamic community in Hamburg laying claim to tainted money with dubious aims that attracts the attention of both US and German national security organizations — feels ripped from the headlines and utilizes a ticking clock dynamic to ratchet up the suspense, but none of that would likely matter without what seems like a nail-biting turn from Hoffman. Now in theaters. (R) Not screened in time for review
This article appears in Jul 23-29, 2014.
