A former member of the British Intelligence Services MI5 and MI6, John le Carré has established himself as a foremost writer of espionage fiction. Several of his works have been adapted into memorable films including: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (be it the miniseries or the recent film), The Constant Gardner, The Russia House, and The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Unlike James Bond or Jason Bourne, le Carré’s spies don’t have an air of invincibility; these are people who struggle with the morally duplicitous world they are forced to operate in.

A real slow burn, A Most Wanted Man, is the perfect example of a man beaten down by the life of a spy. Philip Seymour Hoffman (in his last lead role before his untimely death) plays Günter Bachmann, a German espionage agent who looks like he hasn’t gotten a proper night’s sleep in twenty years. Haunted by past mistakes, he is intent on preventing a potential terrorist attack in the port city of Hamburg.

For Günter, the leader of an anti-terrorism team which hopes to nurture contacts within the Islamic community to gain information on high profile targets, the memory of 9/11 is never far away. He is haunted by the fact that Mohammed Atta and his collaborators planned the September 11th attacks in Hamburg, undetected. Though those intelligence failures occurred more than a decade earlier, it’s clear that for Günter and his colleagues, it feels like yesterday. The team finally locates Issa Karpov (Grigoriy Dobrygin), a Chechen immigrant with potential ties to militant groups, and is staying in Germany illegally with a Muslim family. Günter’s bosses, notably Dieter Mohr (Rainer Bock), are impatient with Günter’s wait-and-see tactics: they want to arrest Karpov immediately, and get to the bottom of what he knows. However, Günter wants to keep an eye on the guy (who may not be guilty of anything), and see if he leads him to bigger fish.

Of course, the American CIA has to be a player in this whole thing, in the person of Martha Sullivan (Robin Wright) whom Günter doesn’t particularly want to deal with, but ends up largely agreeing with him when it comes to strategy. In the midst of all this, Günter and his team look on, as Karpov makes contact with a human rights attorney named Annabel Richter (Rachel McAdams), who takes Karpov’s case. Karpov is determined to meet a local banker named Tommy Brue (Willem Dafoe), something that Richter helps to make happen. It soon becomes clear that Karpov’s motives are largely financial, rather than criminal. Nonetheless, Brue’s bank may be involved in laundering money to terrorists.

Helmed by Anton Corbijn, a Dutch filmmaker who previously directed George Clooney in The American, this is not a spy thriller looking to give viewers an adrenaline rush. Instead, Corbijn and screenwriter Andrew Bovell (Edge of Darkness) have built their story around spies who engage in mind games with their targets as well as spies from other countries, instead of car chases, gunfights, and the like. In a sense, A Most Wanted Man is like a puzzle: Corbijn, much like the pace of a le Carré novel, presents all the characters, than takes his time explaining how they all fit into the story.

Philip Seymour Hoffman may well receive an Oscar nomination for his performance here. He literally becomes Günter Bachmann. His weariness is palpable; you can feel the pressure he’s carrying on his shoulders. Watching Hoffman was so sad, because a performance like this reminds you just how gifted an actor he was. His death was a terrible loss. While the performances of Robin Wright and Rachel McAdams are solid, the selling point here is the chance to watch Philip Seymour Hoffman give yet another master class in acting.

A Most Wanted Man is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. Shot digitally, there are a lot of saturated tones of blue or yellow, which results in occasional cloudy detail. Generally though, detail is quite good, particularly in close-ups. Contrast is strong, and there are no issues with artifacts or other digital anomalies.

A Most Wanted Man‘s lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 audio track is rather reserved, but nuanced. Ambient effects are well placed throughout the soundstage, and dialogue is clear, and intelligible. Fidelity is strong, and shows no issues.

A Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track, as well as English, English SDH, and Spanish subtitles are available.

The following extras are included:

  • The Making of A Most Wanted Man (HD, 16:09) A fairly standard EPK, featuring interviews with Philip Seymour Hoffman and other members of the cast and crew.
  • Spymaster: John le Carré in Hamburg (HD, 9:32) The author discusses his life in British Intelligence, and his longtime fascination with Hamburg.
  • Digital Copy