All the Old Knives movie review: Chris Pine and Thandiwe Newton’s espionage drama is a tad tepid

3/5

Story: CIA officer Henry Pelham (Chris Pine) is sent to investigate if a plane hijacking from eight years ago that didn’t go well, had inside help. One of the people he is looking into is former colleague and lover, Celia Harrison (Thandiwe Newton), who left the agency immediately after the disastrous end of Flight 127.

Review: Let’s be clear from the onset; this is not a film about terrorists hijacking a plane and the CIA planning a high-octane counter-attack. No, this is not such an edge-of-the-seat thriller about espionage. All the Old Knives is a series of conversations that CIA officer Henry Pelham (Chris Pine) has with two of his former colleagues, Bill (Jonathan Price) and Celia (Thandiwe Newton), to find out if either of them slipped information to the terrorists on board the plane, which eventually led to the death of a 120 people.

In fact, for the most part, Henry and Celia are seated at a high-end California restaurant over a meal and wine and discussing what each of them remembers of the events leading up to that fateful night. Back in the day, when they were both stationed in Vienna, Celia and Henry were romantically involved, even set to move in together. But something happens during the course of the day that Flight 127 is hijacked, following which Celia leaves Henry and the agency for a life as a home-maker with two kids. Was she the mole? Or was it her boss Bill? Could it have been Henry because his former informant is the source of the mole story?

The problem with the all-talk-no-action approach is that even with a magnetic duo (Pine and Newton) at the table, it does get a little yawn-inducing. Pine and Newton have immense chemistry and there’s some between the sheets action thrown in for good measure, but none of that elevates the tepid narrative.

Given that the CIA does not want to wash its linen in public, the outcome of this ‘interrogation’ will not be good for one of the parties involved. And yet you are never at the edge of your seat as the mystery unravels. This is a pity, considering the immense talent the cast packs in.

Verdict: All the Old Knives wasn’t for me. If you are expecting high-octane action and high-tension drama in an espionage thriller, you won’t find it here. And that is the film’s biggest failing, there’s just no tension in a thriller, even though it is, eventually, about betrayal.