All The Old Knives Review: Pine & Newton Boost Average, Familiar Spy Thriller
Spy games often make for good entertainment and the latest addition to the storied genre, Amazon Studios' All the Old Knives, is solid, but not incredibly memorable. Directed by Janus Metz, the film is based on the novel of the same name by Olen Steinhauer (who also wrote the script) and has plenty of the familiar tropes present in decades of espionage tales. All the Old Knives is a slick venture largely held up by performances from Chris Pine and Thandiwe Newton. It tells an intriguing story, though there's a good chance that many audience members will be able to predict the final twist before it arrives. Ultimately, All the Old Knives lacks innovation, but it still serves up an entertaining ride thanks to Pine and Newton's twisty dynamic.
Though mostly set eight years after the fact, All the Old Knives revolves around the devastating events of Flight 127. Hijackers took over the plane when it landed in Vienna, and despite the apparent best efforts of the CIA agents stationed there, over 100 hostages lost their lives. In the present day, Chief of Station Victor Wallinger (Laurence Fishburne) recruits veteran case officer Henry Pelham (Pine) to determine whether there was a mole working among them during the hijacking. Henry seeks out his former co-worker and ex-lover Celia Harrison (Newton) and, over the course of one meal, unravels the truth behind what happened on that fateful day.
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The cat-and-mouse game that ensues between Henry and Celia makes for some good intrigue, but it takes a little bit to settle in. Steinhaur's screenplay briefly introduces Flight 127 before jumping ahead eight years, directly to the moment where Vic tells
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