The Negotiator review: Brad Anderson recreates a war zone with unflashy conviction

1/3
Demetrios Matheou10 August 2018

With Donald Trump making noises about a Middle East peace deal even though the Palestinians won’t talk to him, the timing couldn’t be better for a geopolitical spy drama set in the area.

It’s 1982. Jon Hamm is Mason Stiles, a former US diplomat whose career nosedived after the murder of his wife and who is now a barely functioning alcoholic. He’s coaxed back to his old stomping ground in Beirut when his friend — a CIA spy — is kidnapped.

The White House formally wants him to negotiate an exchange with a Palestinian terrorist. But the Washington hawks have a secret agenda and the Israelis are itching for any excuse to invade. Stiles needs to put down the bottle and rediscover his smooth-talking mojo.

Tony Gilroy’s script is intricate and intelligent, with an appropriately cynical view of US foreign relations. And Hamm makes hay with his best role since Mad Men. Rosamund Pike leads a strong supporting cast, while director Brad Anderson recreates a war zone with unflashy conviction.

The top picks at this years Venice Film Festival

1/5

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in