A Most Wanted Man

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A Most Wanted Man

R

Released Aug 1, 2014

2h 1m

Drama

Mystery & Thriller

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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

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

Jan 5, 2015

Full Review

Dana Stevens

Slate

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.

Jan 5, 2015

Full Review

Eric Kohn

IndieWire

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

Rated: B+

Jan 5, 2015

Full Review

Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

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.

Feb 8, 2025

Full Review

Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

It’s compelling stuff – crisp and razor sharp.

Rated: 4/5

Aug 19, 2022

Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

The story reveals an overarching theme about the current, pointedly American, post-9/11 approach to spy games, and the more intricate, more persistent, perhaps specifically European alternative.

Rated: 3/4

Aug 5, 2022

Full Review

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Madam D

Hoffman was such a good actor. Hate that he will be making no more films.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

06/08/25

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Stephen C

Success in 2 hours and 1 minutes. Rated R for Language!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

06/02/25

Full Review

Audience Member

A really sad movie to watch...

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

05/05/25

Full Review

Jonathan K

So, this lawyer starts off all activist-y and scrupulous, and then suddenly pivots into "Hey, let's make my client a spy asset!" territory. Bit of a leap, honestly. I mean, sure, we're probably meant to think she’s doing it to stop terrorism or whatever, but the transformation feels like it skipped a few steps. Like, blink and boom: espionage recruiter. The middle chunk of the movie drags a bit; various stretches where you're just kind of... hanging around. But then it pulls itself together for a solid, gut-punch of an ending. Frustrating, bleak, and probably more realistic than you'd like to believe. It leaves that intentionally incomplete, harrowing feeling, which is effective, even if not satisfying. I don't know how memorable of a movie it's going to be in the long run, in spite of the story and the character development -- caveat above aside -- being pretty good.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

04/13/25

Full Review

Harvey K

Stretched but marvellous, speaking of the invisibility of trust.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/11/25

Full Review

Michael J

When it ends, you go “wtf was that?”, then come on rotten tomatoes and try to warn others.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

12/19/24

Full Review

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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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