As mentioned before, running parallel to the events leading to Léger’s arrest in Thailand is his story of survival in a Thai prison. We see him making allies and fighting for his life to make it to the next day, while at trying to secure his transfer as a Canadian citizen.
Securing Léger’s transfer in the third storyline is reporter Malarek. What the Canadian government did was unethical and illegal. Since it only affected one person, Cooper and his superiors decide just to let Léger rot in a Thai prison. Malarek essentially becomes the only person willing to fight for Léger’s release, even at the cost of his personal life. He does so with the help of a small office that only existed thanks to a bloated Canadian bureaucracy.
“…exposes an incredible injustice that needlessly put a flawed, yet innocent, man away in a foreign prison for life…”
I’m split when it comes to Most Wanted. The story of Malarek and Léger is both fascinating and compelling and I’m glad it’s being told for the sake of confronting the abuse of power. The film exposes an incredible injustice that needlessly put a flawed, yet innocent, man away in a foreign prison for life, while knowing that his freedom would expose government corruption. Telling this story alone is worth recommending Most Wanted.
My problem with Most Wanted is it feels like the film is telling the wrong parts of the story. There’s huge time jump that happens at the end, after Léger’s first year in prison and the moment he receives word of his transfer to Canada. Time advances for almost ten years. We see an aged Léger and Malarek and the movie end. There’s a story here that I’m certain was cut out for time and budget.
Most Wanted boasts some incredible performances from Hartnett, Pilon, and Gaffigan. But its this sense that large chunks of the story is missing that in the end that falls flat. For a thriller, this is death. I wound up feeling sorry for Léger and grateful for Malarek’s passion for justice. Still, the film comes across more like a TV police procedural at times, giving us the facts when it needed to deliver energy and tension.
"…incredible performances from Hartnett, Pilon, and Gaffigan."
