All the Old Knives

4/8/20221h 41m

Theatrical (limited) Release (US)

~ Secrets kill. ~

Overview:

When the CIA discovers one of its agents leaked information that cost more than 100 people their lives, veteran operative Henry Pelham is assigned to root out the mole with his former lover and colleague Celia Harrison.

Director:

Janus Metz

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Key words:

central intelligence agency (cia)
based on novel or book
espionage
spy
conspiracy
vienna, austria
former lovers

Cast

Chris Pine

~ as ~

Henry Pelham

Thandiwe Newton

~ as ~

Celia Harrison

Jonathan Pryce

~ as ~

Bill Compton

Laurence Fishburne

~ as ~

Vick Wallinger

Corey Johnson

~ as ~

Karl Stein

Jonjo O'Neill

~ as ~

Ernst Pul

Ahd Kamel

~ as ~

Leila Maloof

David Dawson

~ as ~

Owen Lassiter

Nasser Memarzia

~ as ~

Mohammed Dudayev

Orli Shuka

~ as ~

Ilyas Shishani

View full cast & crew

Reviews (2)

MS
Manuel São Bento
Written 3 year(s) ago
5
MORE REVIEWS @ https://www.msbreviews.com/

"All the Old Knives holds an extraordinary cast and an interesting premise, but Janus Metz's uninspired execution turns a movie with immense potential into yet another generic work with little replay value.

Chris Pine and Thandiwe Newton shine as the protagonists, and their astonishing chemistry transforms a simple dinner into the most captivating storyline of the entire narrative. However, the constant shifts between different timelines and distinct perspectives withdraw energy, pacing, and focus from Olen Steinhauer's decent screenplay.

Furthermore, Laurence Fishburne and Jonathan Pryce are criminally underused. It's far from being a non-recommended flick, but it leaves a somewhat bitter feeling by the end."

Rating: C
CinemaSerf
Written 3 year(s) ago
5
The scene is set in a fine restaurant where "Pelham" (Chris Pine) and ex-girlfriend "Celia" (Thandiwe Newton) and sharing some wine and considering who betrayed them many years earlier when their CIA operation around the hijacking of an airliner in Vienna went wrong. Ostensibly, "Pelham" is leading an investigation into the identity of the mole - it could be either of them, for all we know, or it could be their boss "Compton" (Sir Jonathan Pryce)... Sadly, though, John Le Carré this isn't. The narrative uses Pine's character as the conduit to interrogate all the potential suspects, and sadly that drags us into the solidly melodramatic aspects of his relationship with "Celia". On the plus side, that allows him to do what he has been trying to do ever since "Star Trek" (2009) - get his ass out on screen, but otherwise it is a terribly slowly paced affair. The espionage elements are largely subsumed into the relationship drama and frankly, neither Pine nor Newton have much to do in this dialogue heavy drudge of a film. It looks good, the production has a style to it; but quite simply not enough happens to keep it stimulating, the soporific lighting starts to take effects and after about 45 minutes I was really quite bored with it all. The ending is quite quirky, but it was all too little too late for me.