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United States · 2022
Director Janus Metz Pedersen
Starring Chris Pine, Thandiwe Newton, Jonathan Pryce, Laurence Fishburne
Genre Thriller
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After eight years apart, two CIA agents and ex-lovers reunite over dinner. Over the course of the night, they reminisce about the time they spent together on an ill-fated assignment in Vienna. Through a series of flashback, the painful truth about what happened the last time they saw each other is slowly revealed.
At the end of the day, however, one will walk away satisfied with the characters and moved by a bleak and tragic ending, but left with little to carry in their memory. Ironically, a film about the painful suspicions of the past and the aching nature of memory is largely unmemorable.
Arizona Republic by Bill Goodykoontz
The twists are somewhat predictable; a twist within a twist is reasonably satisfying. But this is the kind of movie that relies less on surprises than chemistry. And Pine and Newton’s is fine, nothing more. In fact their conversation is far more magnetic than their romantic scenes.
The Hollywood Reporter by David Rooney
The storytelling moves along at a steady hum, maintaining intrigue as different pieces of the puzzle come together.
Screen Daily by Fionnuala Halligan
It is silkily persuasive in its own hot-sleuthy way.
Come for the espionage thrills, stay for the wrenching dissection of what it means to really love someone. That’s what really cuts deep.
San Francisco Chronicle by Mick LaSalle
Looking back over All the Old Knives, it might be more accurate to call it a spy romance, except that makes it sound titillating. Better to say it’s a movie about the consequences of trying to stay human while working in the spy business.
I’m glad to report that All the Old Knives is a minor but engrossing genre movie: tightly wound, more or less rooted in the real world, with taut dialogue and espionage gambits that fall just this side of contrived. It’s not John le Carré, but it’s not thinly patched together pulp either.
The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw
Maybe a little unexpectedly, Amazon Studios have given us a very watchable and classily upscale espionage drama-thriller in the spirit of John le Carré.
All the Old Knives lacks innovation, but it still serves up an entertaining ride thanks to Pine and Newton's twisty dynamic.
The Playlist by Robert Daniels
It’s all pastiche; all surfaces with nothing below. And it leaves one cold.
Some crimes never let you go
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