All the Old Knives Review: With Espionage thrillers there comes a precedence where you have to juggle many plotlines very carefully. At times that can lead to movies being confusing to watch, or everything aligns perfectly and you’re left with a nail biting thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat. All the Old Knives does exactly that, but at times it feels convoluted and rather hard to follow. All The Old Knives: Jonathan Pryce, Lawrence Fishburne Board Amazon's Espionage Thriller.

All the Old Knives is directed by Janus Metz Pedersen and is an adaptation of a book of the same name written by Olen Steinhauer, who wrote the screenplay as well. The story sees ex-lovers and Cia Agents Henry (Chris Pine) and Celia (Thandiwe Newton) meet after a long few years to discuss the hijacking of flight 127. The event still haunts the CIA to this day, and with Henry being tasked to reopen the case again, he has to face these wounds once more.

Pine and Newton really carry this movie as their relationship is at the center of it. They really carry this movie with their nuanced relationship as you feel the pain of their characters. Pine and Newton have that chemistry where you’re just locked in with their performances. Pine who is clearly hurting shows his emotions by hiding them behind a professional look while Newton not wanting to meet him but still doing is so is very well explored.

With the story being told in a non-linear fashion, you keep on jumping from one time period to another, and I think that aspect of it nails it home with the portrayal of their characters. Pine and Newton essentially have to portray two different characters, and they do it so effortlessly.

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Jonathan Pryce as Bill Compton also brought so much talent to this film. Him being this older and more experiences veteran of the game just made him all the more fun to watch on screen. Laurence Fishburne also in his limited capacity does amazing with the material he is given. The cast overall does a fantastic job at bringing these characters to life.

The story does an effective job to a degree in telling this tale of pain and tragedy, although it’s undermined by its convoluted tendencies. All the Old Knives isn’t your by the mill ‘kick in a door and get information’ kind of a thriller, rather it’s a slow burn with a lot of conversations happening around. For many instances, that does work, but it ultimately falters when it keeps jumping from time period to time period.

There is so much information being thrown around that after a point I myself had to rewind back to catch some info that I potentially missed out on. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but the convolution really hinders what enjoyment you could get from the film.

In many instances I wished if the story was more streamlined and easy to follow, but the more you add on to something, the more difficult it gets to explain. Perhaps All the Old Knives could have worked better as TV series. The Lost City Movie Review: Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum’s Movie is a Fun Throwback to ‘90s Adventure Films! (LatestLY Exclusive).

Even though the plot does feel convoluted, it still sticks the landing with a very emotional and bleak ending that left me shocked in my seat.

Yay!

Chris Pine and Thandie Newton

Good Thrills

Nay!

Can Feel Convoluted

Final Thoughts

All the Old Knives is an effective espionage thriller that while feels convoluted, still tells a tragic and effective story. Chris Pine and Thandiwe Newton give some of the best performances of their career and bring a great emotional charge to a bleak ending that had me shook in my seat. All the Old Knives releases on Amazon Prime Video on April 8, 2022.

Rating:3.5

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 08, 2022 10:03 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).