A Most Wanted Man

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A Most Wanted Man

R

2014

2h 1m

Drama

Mystery & Thriller

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

86%

Tomatometer

194 Reviews

65%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

An escaped militant's (Grigoriy Dobrygin) attempt to claim an inheritance gives a German agent (Philip Seymour Hoffman) the chance to lay a trap for a well-regarded Muslim scholar who is suspected of financing terrorists.

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Critics Consensus

Smart, subtle, and steadily absorbing, A Most Wanted Man proves once again that John le Carre books make for sharp, thoughtful thrillers.

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Gary Thompson

Philadelphia Inquirer

01/05/2015

Hoffman's an actor who could do just about anything, but being authentically German is not one of them.

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Dana Stevens

Slate

01/05/2015

One of the countless sad things about losing Hoffman is the realization that we'll never get to watch him single-handedly elevate an otherwise OK movie again.

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Eric Kohn

IndieWire

01/05/2015

B+

"A Most Wanted Man" allows Hoffman to go out with not only one of his best performances, but one that epitomizes his strengths.

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Don Shanahan

Every Movie Has a Lesson

Jul 20

4/5

The slow burn factor works in "A Most Wanted Man" with compelling and steadily increasing story developments that maintain your investment.

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Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

02/08/2025

This is [John] le Carré’s world of competing agencies within the same country who prize power over efficiency and interests outside the structure working their own interests.... It’s superb.

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Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

08/19/2022

4/5

It’s compelling stuff – crisp and razor sharp.

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Raymond B.

@DrDominee Feb 14

Utter waste of time.

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Thyaagu C

@Thyaagu Feb 9

Dense emotions channeled. A moving story win on human weakness.

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Mac T

@MacT2026 Feb 9

A Most Wanted Man is a well crafted, slow‑burn thriller that rewards patience with an emotionally devastating payoff. Set in drab, convincingly real Hamburg, it swaps flashy set‑pieces for meticulous tradecraft and moral ambiguity, showing how careful, intelligence‑led counter‑terrorism is ultimately crushed by crude, political, short‑term thinking. Philip Seymour Hoffman delivers a quietly towering performance as a weary spy whose hard‑won, human‑centred operation is undone in a single brutal moment, making the film’s final scenes feel both inevitable and shocking. The director’s restrained style, combined with an excellent ensemble cast and a smart adaptation of John le Carré’s novel, creates a world where small decisions and bureaucratic betrayals matter far more than explosions. This is espionage stripped of glamour and illusion, and for viewers willing to lean in, it offers one of the most compelling and sobering portraits of the post‑9/11 security state in modern cinema.

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Scott J.

@scottiej527 Feb 8

Decent little twist at the end but slow moving to get there. Robin Wright always seems to portrays a villain. Not the Jenny we grew up on lol. Philip Seymour Hoffman is from my hometown. Great actor. If he did overdose he would’ve of been dead by now from a heart attack. Not a very healthy man

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Martin D

@RT39944022 Jan 12

Not a bad movie, but Seymour Hoffman phones in his performance and adopts too many irritating tricksy mannerisms while smoking far too many cigarettes.

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Joel B

@JBreview Jan 11

1/2 star. This movie wanders around and it's never clear where it's going. It's too bad this was Philip Seymour Hoffman's final leading role. The good news is, there's plenty of his prior films to look back on.

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Anton Corbijn

Director

Philip Seymour Hoffman

Gunter Bachmann

Rachel McAdams

Annabel Richter

Grigoriy Dobrygin

Issa Karpov

Willem Dafoe

Tommy Brue

Robin Wright

Martha Sullivan

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Synopsis

An escaped militant's (Grigoriy Dobrygin) attempt to claim an inheritance gives a German agent (Philip Seymour Hoffman) the chance to lay a trap for a well-regarded Muslim scholar who is suspected of financing terrorists.

Director: Anton Corbijn
Producer: Stephen Cornwell, Gail Egan, Malte Grunert, Simon Cornwell, Andrea Calderwood
Screenwriter: Andrew Bovell
Distributor: Roadside Attractions
Production Co: Potboiler Productions, The Ink Factory, Amusement Park Films
Rating: R (Language)
Genre: Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 1, 2014, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 19, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $17.2M
Runtime: 2h 1m

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