A Most Missed Actor - Philip Seymour Hoffman's Last Movie

When Philip Seymour Hoffman died on February 2nd, he left behind a legacy full of classic screen characters.  Unknown at the time was that his final completed movie would reveal one of the most quintessential portrayals of his career.  In "A Most Wanted Man" (in theaters now), the late Mr. Hoffman plays Gunther Bachmann, a thoughtful, drinking, chain-smoking, shadowy German.  It's a brilliant performance, in an excellent spy-thriller that is one of the Summer's best movies.

The story takes place in Hamburg, Germany, where the post-9/11 landscape has made every Muslim a suspect in the global war on terror.  Herr Bachmann has his sights set on wealthy Islamic fundraiser Dr. Abdullah, but he quickly targets a new suspect - Issa Karpov - the movie's most wanted man.  Issa Karpov is a half-Chechen, half-Russian Muslim, who arrives in Hamburg with no ID, except an authentic letter claiming inheritance to several million Euro.

As the German and American anti-terrorists get ready to pounce, Gunther Bachmann has the delicate task of convincing them (including a creepy Robin Wright) to wait and see where this leads. . . hopefully to the war's proverbial Big Fish.  The story maintains suspense, as you never know who the real villains are - if any.  Issa Karpov enlists a passionate lawyer played by Rachel McAdams to help get established, and then needs to convince Willem Dafoe's banker that Karpov's inheritance is legitimate.

All the while, Philip Seymour Hoffman holds things together.  "We should take care of all of us," he says, knowing what an espionage life can do.  He's a man with a past, that he wears physically.  Such a great skill of Mr. Hoffman's - the weight of the world seeming to take over his whole body.  He's subtle when he needs to be, and explosive at just the right moments.  When he introduces a coworker, he says, "She sails and spies.  Me?  I don't sail."  It's a brilliant, telling moment that few other actors could have phrased so well. 

Director Anton Corbijn's famous "Joshua Tree" photo

"A Most Wanted Man" is based on the book by John Le Carré, and the story shows the trained eye of a gifted storyteller with a talent for secrets and lies.  Director Anton Corbijn brings a cool, detached vision to the picture, which perfectly fits this grey new world.  As a legendary photographer, Corbijn's compositions are stunning, and this film is full of amazing images.  Here, Corbijn the filmmaker steps up brilliantly as the pacing is taut and exciting.  The ending is pure cinematic beauty - one of the best climaxes in recent memory.  And not just the perfect and inevitable way to end the movie; it's the most poetic end to a glorious film acting career.  RIP Philip Seymour Hoffman.

"The Grand Budapest Hotel" - Wes Anderson's Latest Masterpiece

Every Wes Anderson movie seems to exceed the previous one.  In terms of scope, ambition and style - each one adds to the whimsical genre that he has created for himself.  The newly released "Grand Budapest Hotel" continues that upward trend with a bold, fast-paced, hilarious, literary story featuring an endless parade of stars.

Following the success and ambitions of "Moonrise Kingdom," Mr. Anderson pushes his creative and cinematic limits with a highly imaginative comedy set in a fictional Eastern European country in 1932.  It's actually a story told in multiple flashbacks - a story within a story within a story within a story - thus making the audience both enthralled by, and dubious of, the storytellers' integrity.

The main plot focuses on Monsieur Gustave H. (Ralph Fiennes) - the sophisticated, old-world concierge of the mountaintop resort.  Meticulous and proper, yet also profane and sneaky, Gustave's life mission is to maintain the highest standards of service and luxury for the grand hotel.  Even in 1932 he's a bit anachronistic.  Much like the movie's director, his perfectionist eye for detail is all about the personal, handmade touches of class that few people in the later generations notice or appreciate.

Gustave also has the habit of seducing older women.  MUCH older women who happen to be rich.  When Madame D. (Tilda Swinton) dies and leaves a priceless painting to Gustave, her family takes an elaborate revenge on the unsuspecting concierge.  What follows is an action-packed, genre-bending journey across the snowcapped chalets of prewar Europe, where we encounter the likes of Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Willem Dafoe, and Adrien Brody. 

This is Wes Anderson's most commercial movie to date, blending humor and thrills, while limiting the arthouse eccentricities.  It's a near perfect journey to an imaginative world, where both the narrators and audience recognize a bygone era.  Not just the opulence of European aristocracy, or the analog delights of handwritten notes, but also the beauty of original filmmaking.  Undoubtedly it's one of the more inventive and unpredictable movies we'll see this year.  It's not based on a comic book, or a remake, or a sequel.  But a good, old fashioned original story.

The one flaw is that with so many great character cameos, I wanted more.  Adrien Brody's sulking, menacing Dmitri could have been better utilized as a villain.  He only briefly appears, and is more of a caricature than a three-dimensional antagonist.  It's always great to see Owen Wilson, who practically steals the show in his brief 2 minutes of screen time, but again such a tease leaves the audience wanting more.  Clocking in at just over 90 minutes, I could have sat through a much longer version, and with these actors it would have been a pleasure.

Miniature set display from Arclight Theater, Hollywood.

"The Grand Budapest Hotel" is fun entertainment, but also nostalgic and melancholy.  I left the theater reflecting on the past.  Distant memories and details that we haphazardly choose to remember - and not just ones filtered through movies (although that happened too).  I realize it's only March, but I'm certain "The Grand Budapest Hotel" will be remembered  when the Oscar nominations are announced next year.