Review of "All the Old Knives," an old-school spy thriller starring Chris Pine
An adaptation of the novel of the same name by Olen Steinhauer.
Henry (Chris Pine) and Celia (Tandive Newton) are CIA operatives and lovers who worked together at headquarters in Vienna. Their passionate romance came to an end after terrorists hijacked a plane with passengers: everyone on board was killed, the rescue mission failed, and the operatives never recovered. Eight years later, Henry comes to the office at the request of his boss (Laurence Fishburne) and learns that on that fateful day there was a mole among them. The hero needs to find the traitor, which may be his former lover, now living in sunny California with her husband and children.
Contrary to the spy veil, most of Janus Metz's picture unfolds not in the headquarters of secret agents or in a hijacked plane by extremists, but in a spotless wine restaurant in a postcard town called Carmel. If you've seen the TV series "Big Little Lies," you have a clear idea of Paradise County Monterey: You can hear the sound of the sea through the windows of the place, and the warm light from the setting sun floods the entire space. Former lovers are sipping expensive wine and sampling exquisite food, cautiously engaging in sensitive dialogue. The viewer does not know until the last minutes which of these two is the liar, and the director takes the opportunity to throw us back eight years to show everything that happened to Henry and Celia on the day of the terrorist attack.
The story is not without the familiar clichés about the intricate machinations of secret service workers, because of which at times there is a strong feeling of some "Bondian" and the usual influence of traditional genre films. Even the decision to cast Chris Pine in the leading role seems a little predictable, after all, the actor already has a role of a CIA agent in the spy rom-com "Means War. All these details weigh down the plot, prevent the film from reaching its potential and going beyond the notion of "old-school". After all, it appears that the authors aren't really interested in dynamic action. They prefer slow narration and tense conversation to gunfights, through which old feelings and deeply buried secrets get out.
While the characters are emptying their glasses, the light in the restaurant thickens and the smooth conversation is replaced by accusations and bitterness of the loss of something real. Regret is felt by the viewer as well - curious plot twists grab his attention for a moment, but just as quickly sink to the bottom of the film.
This article was sponsored by Clement George
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