Delayed Reaction: All the Old Knives

Premise: Two spies and former lovers meet to recount the events of an operation gone wrong from 8 years before.

 

Here’s the truth. I definitely went into this movie a few drinks in and realized too late that this wasn’t a good movie for that. You see, I was expecting more of an action spy thriller. You know, a medium budget, straightforward story, where all I really needed to do was marvel at how attractive Thandiwe Newton and Chris Pine were before maybe a twist or two at the end. Some of this was right, but I did not account for how quiet and talky the movie would be. In other words, I didn’t follow much of what was happening with the twists and betrayals. I was confused about the specifics for most of the movie while I could still appreciate the dynamic between Pine and Newton.

 

A quick look at some reviews though, and now I’m thinking it wasn’t just the alcohol. It seems that a lot of people found the espionage a little dull and stayed interested just because of Newton and Pine. So, I guess I do feel comfortable in my assessment. All the Old Knives is a function of good casting. Pine and Newton have great chemistry. I especially related to Pine, because I too would hold a candle for Thandiwe Newton for 8 years if she left me. It still makes no sense to me how good Pine looks with a beard. Star Trek-era you could not have convinced me that his peak handsomeness was anything but clean-shaven. It turns out he rocks a beard with some grey just as well. And Newton has looked photoshopped for a quarter-century and counting. They are the sexy center with serious stalwarts like Laurence Fishburne and Jonathan Pryce on the side.

 

It would’ve been nice if the screenplay could match what they brought. Part of the problem is that the movie has a Flight problem but it structures it like it doesn’t. Flight has that terrific plane crash sequence early on, and the rest of the movie struggles to match that urgency and tension. All the Old Knives tries to get around that with a flashback structure. The idea is that as the personal tension of the conversation in the present rises, the tension rises in tandem as what went wrong on the mission 8 years ago is revealed. The problem is, I know right away that it’s a tragedy involving hostages on a plane. I don’t need to know the specifics to know what happened. So, I’m not getting any tension from that part of the story. That creates an imbalanced film. Thank god that Newton and Pine nearly keep it all afloat.

 

Verdict: Weakly Don’t Recommend