Directed By Janus Metz

Starring – Chris Pine, Thandiwe Newton, Laurence Fishburne

The Plot – Two CIA operatives, and former lovers (Pine and Newton), reunite at idyllic Carmel-by-the-Sea to re-examine a mission six years ago in Vienna where a fellow agent might have been compromised.

Rated R for sexuality/nudity, violence and adult language

All the Old Knives – Official Trailer | Prime Video – YouTube

POSITIVES

It’s difficult enough to find one intriguing angle to the litany of contemporary spy thrillers that are interchangeable in cliched design and underwhelmingly flawed execution by this point, but along comes “All the Old Knives”, a scintillating slow burn that for all of its own merit contains two endearing aspects that wholeheartedly keep audiences invested, without ever overstaying its welcome. The first is in the air of its mystery, which the film wastes no time getting going in the opening ten minutes while sifting through a variety of colorful personalities that could easily be responsible. But that’s where the film pulls one over on you, because while you’re invested in figuring out the who, it’s really the why that the developments hinge upon, leading to one of the best final twenty minutes of cinema that I have seen this year, for the extent of its scheme alone. The second and perhaps more pivotal aspect is the dynamic between the characters of Pine and Newton, which are cemented all the more ideally with picture perfect chemistry between them that they supplant in irresistible interactions. When you invest in these characters and their ensuing love story, the stakes and circumstances matter all the more effectively to you, and soon that dependency on the comfort factor between them becomes our ultimate undoing. While their unity is the bond that nourishes this film throughout its 97-minute run time, it’s the singularity factor of their impactful performances that are most commanding, especially in Pine’s evolving dilemma for Newton, which supplants him an emotional unraveling during a deposition that starts professional and becomes personal by film’s end. Newton herself is a breath of fresh air, combining an intelligence for mental manipulation and overly emotive windows to the soul that she repeatedly uses on the interpretation of her former lover, and one that plays all the steamier during the hottest yet tasteful sex scene in ages. For the conventional, those aspects matter as well, as the film’s production value doesn’t entirely reinvent the wheel with substantial style but does bring forth a few redeeming qualities in presentation that help booster the atmospheric range in Metz’ direction that he’s continuously channeling. The shadow-play here is immaculate, bringing forth a few facial splits and bodily obscureness that feed into the moral ambiguity of each character, and likewise the sleek, sedated circumference of Charlotte Bruus Christensen’s sensual cinematography purchases realty in the realms of the mysterious that further accentuates the various power struggles playing in the foreground of our many character depositions. It colorfully sets the stage for a momentous pay-off involving a trio of tantalizing twists that are far too elaborate and extensive to ever feel predictable, keeping the pre-conceived idea of physicality and action sequences being essential for this genre on the sidelines, and instead maintains the attention of its audience with a story pertaining to love, regret, and betrayal of the most cerebral variety.

NEGATIVES

Though the storytelling is compelling enough to not fully sacrifice itself on a few improper decisions, the structure of such feel unnecessarily convoluted during key moments when it requires the synergy of momentum to sell its various bombshells. This is a film that is told between two different timelines, and while the production does a good enough job distinguishing them with cast haircuts and slight color deviation in its aforementioned cinematography, the sequencing of events lead to a bit more mental strain than I would’ve wanted in piecing matters together. This is made all the more apparent with a corresponding series of visual cues that better conveys the intentions of the revealing dialogue while completely wiping away the elements of subtlety from the interaction. This is followed up with the sequencing of the twists, which while exceptional with how they contort the story and various character intentions, does feel a bit rushed during the closing moments of the film. Similar to how the script completely abandons certain suspects midway through the narrative, it also undercuts the resounding impact of the various twists by stacking them one after the other, with little to no documentation of the impact they elicit or deserve. For my money, twenty minutes more screen time could’ve equally diminished these glaring instances and kept this film free from obvious weaknesses that directly cut into the monumental tension it continuously builds for itself during the opening hour.

OVERALL

“All the Old Knives” isn’t the sharpest slice of deviation for a genre that is practically demanding it at this point, but it does evade predictability with a trio of tremendous twists and a duo of tenderly tenacious turns that captivate and correlate with a climactic last blow void of any bullets or violence that has saturated its predecessors. It’s a story about the grey areas of morality and trust and proves that some bonds cut the deepest when they penetrate from the back.

My Grade: 7/10 or B-