A Most Wanted Man

Sometimes when the stakes are raised in terms of subject matter to almost sacred levels, there’s a greater obligation to deliver. That responsibility isn’t lost on A Most Wanted Man, an espionage thriller that showcases a riveting final performance from the late Philip Seymour Hoffman.

It presents a hypothetical scenario about post-Sept. 11 perpetrators based on a novel by John Le Carre (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) that manages to challenge preconceived notions about terrorists in a way that doesn’t pander or offend.

Taking place in the months following the attacks on American soil, the film is set in Hamburg, where Gunther Bachmann (Hoffman) operates a small security office for the German government. He becomes suspicious when Karpov (Grigoriy Dobrygin), a Chechen immigrant with Muslim ties, shows up allegedly to claim a large and dubiously obtained inheritance from his late Russian father.

As Bachmann closes in, Karpov hires a human-rights lawyer (Rachel McAdams) to assist in the transaction, along with an international banker (Willem Dafoe) whose loyalty lies with the highest bidder. Bachmann immediately butts heads with the lawyer, accusing her of being a pacifist and a “social worker for terrorists.”

The issue is whether Karpov is an innocent victim of bad timing, as he claims, or whether Bachmann’s skepticism is legitimate, a theory with which a nosy CIA agent (Robin Wright) tends to concur. Either way, Bachmann doesn’t like to be second-guessed or outwitted.

While it’s conventional in some respects, the screenplay by Andrew Bovell (Edge of Darkness) develops some real tension amid all the international intrigue. The premise is compelling if not entirely convincing, although its perspective allows for a unique view of American foreign policy in a high-alert world.

As directed by Anton Corbijn (Control), it’s a story in which the line between heroes and villains is sometimes blurred. Hoffman, for example, speaking in a gravelly German accent, portrays a stubborn and controlling character whose cynicism and moral ambiguity hinders the investigation. The supporting cast also is strong.

A Most Wanted Man is sharply written but requires attention to the details of its labyrinthine account of deception and double-crosses. The abundant exposition pays off in the final hour with a cat-and-mouse structure that’s both taut and provocative.

Rated R, 122 minutes.