Léger is so strong in the film's secondary lead role that he nearly rescues parts of "Most Wanted." He's an up-and-coming international star whose work in such films as "Mommy" and "1:54" marks him an exciting, soulful character actor in a leading man's body. Like young Robert De Niro, Denzel Washington, Edward Norton, or Tom Hardy, he radiates such intense energy and makes such surprising choices in the moment that I could see him inspiring a fan club, if he doesn't already have one. There's so much happening in his face and body language, even when the character is hiding important information from others, that it partly compensates for the tediousness of the script, which seems comprised mainly of exposition disguised as banter, deployed to fill in the knowledge gaps of people who missed a couple of scenes because they were scrolling their phones.
Jim Gaffigan is almost as effective as a sleazy, slobbish, violent drug dealer/addict who hastens Antoine’s downfall. Though previously known as a sitcom actor and standup comic, Gaffigan has increasingly distinguished himself as a character actor whose roles seem chosen to neutralize typecasting. He doesn't pull off the explosive rage required to put the fear of God in viewers—something about his performance makes the character's threat level come across as a 4 when it needed to be a 10—but in every other way, this is a striking performance, particularly when he shifts into a smarter-than-thou, psychologically invasive mode that the late Philip Seymour Hoffman used to specialize in.
Hartnett, though, is a disaster. His unconvincing performance amplifies many of the movie's worst tendencies. Exuding "maverick hero on the edge,” it's a bundle of predictable and shallow choices, from the insinuating smirk whenever Victor grills people to the way he stalks from point A to point B, indicating unstoppability for viewers who might've missed it.
Focusing on the young criminal and treating Victor as a supporting character and exposition provider might have lessened at least some of the movie's problems. But Hartnett, who could be a soulful, naturalistic blank slate in early roles, makes things worse by consistently failing to dominate scenes where you're supposed to believe Victor is getting what he wants by being louder, more charismatic, and nobler than anyone standing in his way.
A mediocre film that's unaware of the poor choices it's making is much harder to watch than a bad film that relishes its stupidity and poor taste. At least the second kind of film can be fun.
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