A MOST WANTED MAN will be forever known as Philip Seymour Hoffman’s last lead role, a fact that comes with a lot of pressure, baggage and scrutiny, fair or not. Thankfully, the movie is mostly worthy of the attention, because of a overwhelmingly talented cast that embolden a politically incisive, intricate and unhurried spy yarn.

Philip Seymour Hoffman’s heartbreaking passing only feels more fresh, tragic and unfair after watching A MOST WANTED MAN. I doubt this movie or his role would garner such attention if not for his death, but even if PSH was alive and well today, people would be buzzing about his role as Gunther Bachmann, the head of an underground German anti-terror unit stuck in Hamburg. There’s no doubt about it: this is Philip Seymour Hoffman’s movie. Even in the rare scenes that Gunther isn’t puffing on a cigarette, he’s the puppet master of the proceedings (or is he the puppet?), orchestrating each and every encounter, in an obviously ironic effort “to make the world a safer place.”

When Issa Karpov (Grigoriy Dobrygin, fantastic), a 26 year old Chechen refugee marked as an escaped militant jihadist, stumbles into Hamburg, it’s Gunther Bachmann’s job to figure out if he’s a dangerous extremist, or a victim of circumstance. Surprisingly, we’re never really unsure about Issa and his motives, but it’s Gunther’s juggling of variables, shouldering of responsibility and noxious work with other intelligence units that is the nexus of the film.

Is Gunther any different from the Americans or German higher ups who want to arrest and torture Issa without any shred of evidence? Is compassion a weakness? Or is Gunther merely using Issa to get to a bigger fish in the sea? Enter: Dr. Faisal Abdullah (ZERO DARK THIRTY’s Homayoun Ershadi), a Muslim academic and charity fundraiser that Gunther believes is secretly funding terrorist organizations.

Issa, through the help of a Turkish family brimming with kindness, connects with Annabel Richter (Rachel McAdams), a indefatigable activist lawyer from Sanctuary North who fights for the human rights of political refugees. Annabel serves as Issa’s counsel, confidante and support. Is she being played by Issa? Is Annabel a pawn in the cross-hairs or one of the players? We’re so honed as an audience to suspect double or triple agents and betrayals, that we tie ourselves into a knot whenever we meet a new character, but part of the genius of A MOST WANTED MAN is to (slow) play with our expectations. It lets us do the mental somersaults, because we might miss what’s right in front of our face. Sometimes we can trust people at face value. Sometimes.

Issa traveled to Hamburg to meet Tommy Brue (Willem Dafoe), the head of a private German bank. It turns out that this man who barely has any clothes, might be in line for a hefty inheritance (millions of Euros), one that only muddies the already murky waters of his delicate case. Throw in Robin Wright, who playfully riffs on her manipulative post-HOUSE OF CARDS persona as Martha Sullivan, “the American” that Gunther and company probably shouldn’t trust, and the chess board is almost overflowing.

James Bond films make us want to be spies, whereas John le Carre again and again shows the harsh reality (A MOST WANTED MAN is adapted by Andrew Bovell from his 2008 novel of the same name). No sane person wants to be a spy, especially in a post-911 world. It’s a miserable, lonely existence where you can’t trust anybody and you’re grist on the mill of corrupt bureaucracy. There’s always someone higher up, someone more powerful, and someone looking to use you (and it could be your best friend/lover/subordinate). This moral ambiguity and shady political dealings are trademarks of John le Carre, the master British spy novelist best known for THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD, THE CONSTANT GARDENER and TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY.

Somehow, Philip Seymour Hoffman’s presence isn’t distracting. He’s just that good as Gunther, his crackly German accent perfect, using everything in his arsenal to look disheveled. We’ve seen the alcoholic who came out of the womb taking a soulful, pained drag out of his cigarette many times before, but Hoffman is no less mesmerizing in the role, as a company man (without a company) fighting the good fight, hopelessly holding on to the last shred of honor in a game that has none left.

I’d argue that the rest of the big names littering the film are slightly distracting, because they’re so obviously not German, and take you out of the picture for a moment, but maybe that’s precisely the point. Besides, they’re all mostly fantastic. I believe that all private banks are run by Willem Dafoe, and it’s nice to see Rachel McAdams in a role that matters, one that isn’t glossed over by a romantic comedy or action blockbuster sheen.

A MOST WANTED MAN is an exercise in patience, a plodding, deliberate narrative that almost invites you to get antsy, as when we sit and watch Dr. Abdullah sign papers for two minutes in the middle of the supposed climax. Director Anton Corbijn hasn’t strayed too far from THE AMERICAN, but it works. The pace here is undoubtedly suited to the proceedings, playing up the frustrating cat and mouse game that intelligence organizations not only have to play with their targets, but with every other government group (the British, the Americans, the Germans, etc.) trying to play the game. The slow unfolding of the intricate spider web that Gunther Bachmann finds himself weaving (or trapped in?) serves to ratchet up the tension, and maybe even subvert expectations.

A MOST WANTED MAN isn’t as twisty-turny as you might expect, but that makes it all the more real and unsettling. This story, in some respect, has happened before, and will happen again. And that’s terrifying.

A MOST WANTED MAN hits select theaters JULY 25th, 2014. For more information, check out its website and its FB.

But what actors or actresses are TV networks missing? What character actors could be stars if given the right vehicle? What underrated funny man could make a big splash on a new sitcom, or remake his career as a dramatic star? What actor are we being deprived of at this very moment?

The answer to that series of questions has a near infinite number of answers, but for the first installment of “BLANK Needs His/Her Own TV Show,” I choose…

Rowan Atkinson.

Most Americans know him solely as Mr. Bean, one of the most annoying (and great) slapstick comic characters of all-time, and a role that has doomed Rowan Atkinson of doing pretty much anything else. JOHNNY ENGLISH doesn’t count and his narcoleptic character in RAT RACE, while hilarious, didn’t do him any favors.

But the man has serious talent, not just for broad comedy, but for sharp, acerbic comedy, with one of the driest wits I’ve seen, shown off time and time again on the vehicle that made him famous in Britain…BLACK ADDER. As the many iterations of Blackadder throughout various time periods and holidays, Rowan Atkinson was pure genius, blessed with a terrific supporting cast (Tony Robinson, I heart you).

If BLACK ADDER aired today, it’d surely be right up there with DOCTOR WHO and SHERLOCK in terms of fandemonium. It was that clever and good. Atkinson, by the way, would’ve been a fantastic Doctor, and even played the Doctor in a TV movie COMIC RELIEF: DOCTOR WHO AND THE CURSE OF FATAL DEATH, seen below:

Rowan Atkinson was the Blackadder on a critically acclaimed series that refuses to be forgotten, over four installments/series, ranging from 1982 to 1989. A year later, BEAN was born.

At the beginning, he was able to parlay his popularity into a movie career, with roles in FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL, LION KING and HOT SHOTS! PART DEUX, but before long, he was only Mr. Bean or Johnny English.

Some people love the characters, and I don’t want to disrespect those people, or Atkinson for those roles. But I think he can do so much more, particularly in the field of drama, by following in the footsteps of one of the key supporting cast members of BLACK ADDER.

That’d be Hugh Laurie, who was merely a loutish King George, rarely displaying the range of Rowan Atkinson on the show. But clearly, the guy had talent, charisma, and the ability to play an asshole, and the Brit’s unparalleled mastery over diction helped him be the kind of smartass doctor the world found out it sort of loved.

Rowan Atkinson has all of those abilities, and it’d be a damn shame for him not to get the vehicle to show them off. In a world where every show the BBC churns out is gold, and beloved in Britain AND in America, it’s a crime that Rowan Atkinson isn’t on one of them, or the front-man of another.

He could dominate as a lead lawyer on whatever new crime/law procedural CBS is churning out next year, or as a clumsy Dad with a heart of gold on a painful sitcom, but I also want more for Rowan.

I want for him to have the sort of stage that Kelsey Grammer received for BOSS, a (flawed) show that hinged almost entirely upon his villainy. But as BOSS and RAKE has shown, people are growing a little tired of one-note jerks. I want something Shakespearean, something BIG, something that isn’t him playing a bumbling anything.

I think Netflix offers a lot of great opportunities, to start, such as a guest stint on HOUSE OF CARDS that pits him against Kevin Spacey, which would be an ideal kick in the pants for his career, while a small but scene-stealing performance in the ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT movie (or season 5 or whatever) could showcase his range and boost his cred. I’d also love if he could find a role (any of them) on GAME OF THRONES. Or a villainous turn on SHERLOCK would be perfection. Give him one of the detective slots in the next season of TRUE DETECTIVE (with Tony Robinson). From there, Rowan Atkinson should have the pick of the litter when it comes to lead dramatic (or comedy) roles. He clearly shined when given a chance to recreate history (for sport) on BLACK ADDER, so imagine him as a conniving Iago-type to a King? Or the corrupt King himself? He has Bryan Cranston-like upside, a guy who was primarily known for being a ridiculous Dad on MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE before BREAKING BAD. If given a shot, I think we could finally start loving Rowan Atkinson for another role, and it’d be about damn time.

It’d surely bring forth less terrifying results than this, at least: