October 29, 2014 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 25 Philip Seymour Hoffman’s final starring role by Dennis Seuling “A Most Wanted Man” (Lionsgate), based on the 2008 John Le Carre best- seller, stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as German intelligence agent Gunther Bach- mann, a heavy-drinking chain smoker whose attempts to expose a Muslim ter- rorist ring are hindered by other agencies eager to root out the ring and score. Less about foiling terrorist plots than about differing approaches to dealing with the threat, the movie co-stars Robin Wright (“House of Cards”) as the face of the CIA, an ideologue eager to dictate how Bach- mann should pursue a likely Al Qaeda middleman. Director Anton Corbijn sustains sus- pense by focusing on how Bachmann and his team go about discovering the real iden- tity of Issa Karpov (Grigoriy Dobrygin), a Chechen Russian from Turkey who turns up in Germany seeking political refuge. Karpov engages German human rights lawyer Annabel Richter (Rachel McAd- ams) to help him collect his deceased Rus- sian father’s fortune from a German bank run by Thomas Brue (Willem Dafoe). Inspired by true events, the film tracks the methodical, often tedious work of many individuals and organizations as they keep tabs on suspects and try to ferret out nefar- ious schemes, determining when to wait, when to follow leads, when to corroborate intelligence, and when to close in. Hoffman looks very much the rum- pled bureaucrat on top of his game. He is no James Bond. In fact, he is exactly the opposite. He is sedentary and overweight and his weapons are computers, inter- cepted communications, informants, and experience. Bonuses on the Blu-ray edition include a digital copy, a making-of featurette, and a profile of John Le Carre in Hamburg. “The Vanishing” (The Criterion Collec- tion) is a spellbinding thriller based on the horror novella “The Golden Egg” by Tim Krabbe. Rex Hofman and Saskia Wagter star as a pair of Dutch lovers vacation- ing in France during the Tour de France. Saskia is terrified of the dark and suffers from recurring nightmares about being trapped in a golden egg floating alone in space forever. When their car runs out of gas on a dark road at night, Rex abandons Saskia, but is relieved to see her the next morning in a bright patch of road at the end of a long tunnel. Their reunion is brief, however. At a stop at a gas station for cold drinks, Saskia disappears forever. After setting up this mysterious disap- pearance, director George Sluizer intro- duces a new character, a mild-mannered professor with a clinically diabolical mind, and interweaves his personal story into the mystery. Sluizer creates enormous atmo- sphere and uses lots of subjective camera shots to enhance tension. This is a solid thriller with some memorable characters and touches of Hitchcock throughout. The film is in French and Dutch, with English subtitles. Blu-ray bonus features include new interviews with the director and actor Johanna ter Steege, a theatrical trailer, and a critical essay. “Running from Crazy” (Virgil Films) examines the personal journey of Oscar- nominated actress, author, and mental health advocate Mariel Hemingway, granddaughter of Ernest Hemingway. (continued on Crosword page) Philip Seymour Hoffman stars as a German intelligence agent in ‘A Most Wanted Man.’