A Most Wanted Man (2014)

2/5

Philip Seymour Hoffman's last film is a maddening, frustrating, underwhelming film. Although the movie was described as a spy movie, I somehow mistook that to mean espionage thriller. Silly me. It is certainly about spies, but it focuses more on the bureaucracy of their lifestyle rather than the intrigue of the job. The acting was, unsurprisingly, the best part, with Hoffman delivering a phenomenal final performance. He leaves an indelible impression when the credits finally start to roll.

But it takes so long for those credits to roll. The movie was painfully slow and plodding. And while some individual shots were beautiful, there was too much lingering on meaningless objects that extend the length of the movie without deepening your understanding of the film. I suppose I shouldn't have been all that surprised, since A Most Wanted Man was directed by Anton Corbijn. (Corbijn also directed The American, another overly-stylized "spy movie" that would rather focus on lofty existential crises instead of espionage.) Even knowing this is the last Hoffman project, I still can't recommend this movie to any but the most diehard of fans.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1972571/

The Kite Runner (2007)

3/5

The Kite Runner, despite its rather specific tale of Afghan refugees, tells a universal story of humanity and friendship. It was an eye-opening experience for me, as the story contained elements I wasn't expecting and it took place in a country I knew relatively little about. There are some powerful moments, both visceral and emotional, throughout the film, and an especially shocking one towards the beginning. Much like Reign Over Me, it was an emotionally satisfying movie, if not a deeply complex one, but one that is easy to appreciate and feel touched by. he cinematography was incredible, as was the acting by Homayoun Ershadi as the father of the main character, who was believable in every aspect of being--and a very interesting character to boot!

However, all the rest of the acting I wasn't too big a fan of. The story was sometimes predictable, and a bit overlong, as it contained scenes with very little worth while more moving scenes were given short shrift. Much of the movie felt too literary, and it was also a bit confusing, as if an initial cut had voice-over and in the final cut they just took it out. I didn't like the kite flying special effects, mostly because I knew they were special effects, although they were really cool to watch. Overall, an entertaining and moving film, but definitely not one of Marc Forster's (or David Benioff's for that matter) best efforts.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0419887/