All the Old Knives

Forever linked by a traumatic incident that still haunts them, the characters in All the Old Knives are torn between their suspicions about the past and their desire to repress them.

Indeed, strong performances help to boost this stylish yet muddled espionage thriller that rarely achieves the deeper sense of urgency or sociopolitical intrigue its subject matter would suggest.

The backstory involves the hijacking of a commercial airliner by a terrorist group as part of a hostage negotiation in Vienna, where the local CIA station intervened on behalf of the hostages. But when the passengers were killed, the negotiators became the scapegoats.

Flash forward eight years, and new evidence suggests that a mole might have sabotaged the rescue effort. Henry (Chris Pine) is summoned by his boss (Laurence Fishburne) to investigate. “We have to close the books on Flight 127 once and for all,” he explains.

Forced to confront past emotional wounds, Henry’s loyalties are conflicted. Getting the gang back together proves not to be the most cordial of reunions, especially when he confronts a former supervisor (Jonathan Pryce) with his suspicions.

As he tries to sort through the red herrings, possible coverups, and bureaucratic red tape, Henry’s probe is compromised by lingering sparks with Celia (Thandiwe Newton), a retired former co-worker and lover. Henry meets Celia for dinner under false pretenses, with the conversation by turns flirtatious, nostalgic, inflammatory, and revealing.

Within a whodunit structure in which everyone is potentially hiding secrets, it’s beneficial to have a cast so adept as conveying emotion through subtle glances and facial expressions. The sequences featuring Pine and Newton are particularly tense and multilayered.

Rookie screenwriter Olen Steinhauer, who adapted his own book, explains the background details in his story quickly and efficiently while building moderate suspense. The film is most effective in its intimate, character-driven moments, although without a more compelling central mystery, the logical gaps widen in the third act.

Danish director Janus Metz (Borg/McEnroe) keeps the pace lively, even as the twists become more mechanical and manipulative in the second half.

By the end, All the Old Knives feels like a mildly taut John le Carre knockoff in which a provocative premise yields an indifferent payoff.

Rated R, 101 minutes.