In further proof that time is a social construct, it's already been more than a decade since the film world lost one of its finest actors: Philip Seymour Hoffman, the character-actor legend who died in February 2014.
And while many of the performer's roles across the decades have been deservedly commended, from his iconic entrance as bratty Freddie Miles in "The Talented Mr. Ripley" to his Oscar-winning turn as author Truman Capote in "Capote" to his chilling take on a scandalized Catholic priest in "Doubt," there are still some Hoffman performances that are overdue for praise. One such credit is the 2014 espionage thriller "A Most Wanted Man," which marked Hoffman's final leading performance before his death. (He appeared in a supporting capacity in "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay" films.)
In the absorbing spy drama, the actor plays a hard-drinking, world-weary German intelligence officer tasked with spying on Hamburg's Muslim community, offering up a remarkable send-off to an already stunning screen career. Need more convincing? Here's why you should add "A Most Wanted Man" on Prime Video to your watchlist.
What is 'A Most Wanted Man' about?
Based on the 2008 novel of the same name by John le Carré and directed by Anton Corbijn, "A Most Wanted Man" centers on Günther Bachmann (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a security agent leading a covert German government team tasked with recruiting local informants with ties to Islamic terrorist organizations.
"When a half-Chechen, half-Russian, tortured half-to-death immigrant turns up in Hamburg's Islamic community, laying claim to his father's ill-gotten fortune, both German and US security agencies take a close interest," reads the drama's logline, per Prime Video. "As the clock ticks down and the stakes rise, the race is on to establish this most wanted man's true identity — oppressed victim or destruction-bent extremist?"
Along with Hoffman, the star-studded ensemble features Rachel McAdams as immigration lawyer Annabel Richter, Willem Dafoe as banker Tommy Brue, Robin Wright as CIA agent Martha Sullivan and Grigoriy Dobrygin as Chechnyan refugee and suspected terrorist Issa Karpov.
Why you should stream 'A Most Wanted Man' on Prime Video
One of the most suspenseful and cerebral spy flicks in recent memory, "A Most Wanted Man" received wide acclaim for Hoffman's potent final performance. (The film was released posthumously in July 2014.)
Los Angeles Times critic Kenneth Turan called it "a fitting film for him to leave on, not only because it is so expertly done but because his role was so challenging," adding that even for "as brilliant a chameleon" as Hoffman was, "making us believe he was Günther Bachmann, a German intelligence officer, had to be one of the most demanding roles in a lifetime full of them." Elsewhere, Eric Kohn of IndieWire commends the actor for imbuing his character "with an elegant quality that goes beyond topicality to suggest the timeless empathy within us all.
A meticulously plotted thriller whose slow-burn pace more than pays off in the end, the film boasts a solid 86% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, where the site's critical consensus reads: "Smart, subtle, and steadily absorbing, A Most Wanted Man proves once again that John le Carré books make for sharp, thoughtful thrillers."[
Watch "A Most Wanted Man" on Prime Video now
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