Being a huge fan of Philip Seymour-Hoffman and having liked Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy so much, I was almost sure this was going to be a brilliant movie. Maybe because of this expectation I was really, really disappointed.
There is no nuance or subtleness and the characters are really flat without any depth. Also the quality of the conversations (which were great in Tinker Tailor) are rubbish. The most powerful line in the movie is 'To make the world a safer place', how cheesy is that? Bachmann is intelligent enough to manipulate everybody. He can make a boy betray on his father (which may not be even the bad guy), but as magnificent as he is, he is dumb enough to not see the plans of the Americans blending in and screwing him up for the second time. As brilliant as his team is, they cannot figure out that maybe, Issa stays at the apartment of the lawyer's brother.
I could go on endlessly about things like this who just don't make any sense. Issa has traveled across Europe to get his money, suddenly he doesn't want the money, and suddenly he does want the money. And all these very important moments in the plot just happen, we can't even see how. Oh and of course the bracelet, dear god. Issa has been in prison for his whole life, being able to cope with extreme torture, travel across Europe and honoring his mother all along the way. But when he meets up with a blond three times, he thinks, well just let me give you the most precious thing I own. Makes perfectly sense.
All the characters, all the dialogues are just very simple and basic. An intelligence guy who drinks and smokes a lot with a long legged assistant with a secret crush on him. A female lawyer who hates her rich dad and travels by bike. The acting was okay though, if you can look through the cheesy dialogues.
There is no nuance or subtleness and the characters are really flat without any depth. Also the quality of the conversations (which were great in Tinker Tailor) are rubbish. The most powerful line in the movie is 'To make the world a safer place', how cheesy is that? Bachmann is intelligent enough to manipulate everybody. He can make a boy betray on his father (which may not be even the bad guy), but as magnificent as he is, he is dumb enough to not see the plans of the Americans blending in and screwing him up for the second time. As brilliant as his team is, they cannot figure out that maybe, Issa stays at the apartment of the lawyer's brother.
I could go on endlessly about things like this who just don't make any sense. Issa has traveled across Europe to get his money, suddenly he doesn't want the money, and suddenly he does want the money. And all these very important moments in the plot just happen, we can't even see how. Oh and of course the bracelet, dear god. Issa has been in prison for his whole life, being able to cope with extreme torture, travel across Europe and honoring his mother all along the way. But when he meets up with a blond three times, he thinks, well just let me give you the most precious thing I own. Makes perfectly sense.
All the characters, all the dialogues are just very simple and basic. An intelligence guy who drinks and smokes a lot with a long legged assistant with a secret crush on him. A female lawyer who hates her rich dad and travels by bike. The acting was okay though, if you can look through the cheesy dialogues.