A Most Wanted Man

A German anti-terrorism agent (Philip Seymour Hoffman) trails a Chechen who illegally enters Hamburg, and through a local lawyer (Rachel McAdams), petitions a banker (Willem Dafoe) for the fortune deposited years ago by his Russian father. Meanwhile, German police and an American agent (Robin Wright) meddle with Hoffman's efforts to determine whether the Chechen is a refugee or a terrorist. Adapted from John le Carré's novel, the movie is his usual sour litany of scheming and betrayal among people whose moral compasses point in different directions—when they exist at all, which is seldom. This one is well-acted but bleaker than usual, thanks to an uninvolving story, a shortage of sympathetic characters, leaden pacing by director Anton Corbijn, and washed-out, dreary cinematography by Benoît Delhomme.