All The Old Knives
Director: Janus Metz
Cast: Chris Pine and Thandiwe Newton
What happens when ex-lovers meet after decades to revisit the good and bad days of their relationship? A mix of nostalgia and chaos, you’d assume. Well, add a background of a hijack, tense political climate, and betrayal and it will be called All The Old Knives. Directed by Danish filmmaker Janus Metz, All The Old Knives is an espionage thriller based on a novel of the same name by Olen Steinhauer, who is also in charge of the screenplay, and stars Chris Pine and Thandiwe Newton playing the role of CIA officials, who are also in a relationship.
All The Old Knives swings back and forth for its storytelling. The film opens in the present day with Henry Pelham (Chris Pine) asked to reopen the case file of the events that went down during the hijack of the Royal Jordanian Flight 127 which resulted in the deaths of everyone on board. He’s been asked to find a mole in the team that led to the negotiation’s failure. The investigation forces him to cross paths with those present in the negotiation room at the time, including his fellow spy and ex-girlfriend Celia Harrison (Thandiwe Newton), who is the prime suspect.
The former lovers meet in a picturesque, luxurious restaurant with the sun setting behind them and a lot of wine served on the table. With the last meal-style serving placed in front of them, Henry and Celia open Pandora’s box and set things straight. The storytelling switches gears to the past and viewers are taken back to 2012 when Henry and Celia were together, and the hijacking had just taken place.
The couple, shown to be happy in love, find themselves in a tough spot when their sources influence their decision-making in the negotiation and things only go south thereon. All The Old Knives takes a break from the globe-trotting, going old school for narration. However, this attempt doesn’t fully work for the movie.
All The Old Knives tries the slow-cooked format but the pace of the events panning out doesn’t go hand-in-hand. The first half of the movie is confusing due to its uneven style of storytelling. In its attempt to pack in everything from the book, All The Old Knives finds it difficult to decide what they want you to focus on — the hijack, Henry and Celia’s relationship, or the mole in the system.
However, the second half finally finds a steady pace, focusing on tearing down the connection between Henry and Celia’s relationship with the hijack. Sadly, All The Old Knives comes to end by the time you adapt to the change of pace and sink your teeth into the movie.
While the writing doesn’t work in the film’s favour, the actors keep the audiences hooked. Chris Pine and Thandiwe Newton not only fully support each other in their scenes together, bringing the best out of each other, but they also keep the audiences hooked until the last scene.
Individually too, Chris and Thandiwe stand out in their scenes. Chris exudes Henry’s trauma effortlessly, making the viewers connect on a deeper level with his character. You side with Henry while he battles between his love for Celia and his duty toward the country’s safety. On the other hand, Thandiwe delivers memorable scenes, shifting swiftly from dealing with her fears of losing her family to coming face-to-face with the betrayal caused by her loved one.
With actors like Lawrence Fishburne and Jonathan Pryce on board, the film doesn’t give them enough scenes to display their talent thus wasting their casting in the movie. Director Metz’s attempt to tell a story that is different is evident. But had he given the movie a little more time to brew, the movie would have emerged better.
Should you watch All The Knives Out? You could give it a shot for Chris Pine and Thandiwe Newton.
