'All the Old Knives' review: Sharp look, dull story

WHAT IT'S ABOUT Chris Pine and Thandiwe Newton star in the spy thriller "All the Old Knives." He's a CIA agent, she's a former one who has left the agency for a new life, and they were once lovers stationed together in Vienna.

They're reunited in early 2020, eight years after their relationship ended, when Pine's Henry Pelham is tasked by his boss Vick Wallinger (Laurence Fishburne) with pursuing an investigation into whether there was a mole in the station who fed information to the hijackers of a commercial plane flight in 2012.

Newton's Celia Harrison is one of the suspects. She's married now and has two children, but agrees to meet up with her ex at a fancy restaurant in Carmel-by-the-Sea California, where they hash everything out.

The Prime Video picture co-stars Jonathan Pryce. It's directed by Janus Metz Pedersen ("Borg/McEnroe") and adapted for the screen by Olen Steinhauer from his spy novel.

MY SAY Everything is perfectly manicured in "All the Old Knives." The espionage thriller aesthetic reverberates throughout, from the chic streets of Vienna and the marble halls of the U.S. embassy there, all the way through the sit-down in the luxe California winery-restaurant, which is bathed just-so in the warm glow of the sun setting over the Pacific Ocean.

That's not to mention Pine's slicked-back hair in the 2012 scenes and his salt-and-pepper beard in 2020, all of which suggest that this character spends a lot of time looking at himself in the mirror before throwing on a fancy suit jacket or a stylish turtleneck.

The score leans heavily on the strings to emphasize the drama; the noir framing and lighting suggest depth and mystery, as the story plays out of what happened on that airplane and how our protagonists were involved, if at all.

The movie's "got the look," to borrow a line from the Roxette song, and if you're a streamer looking to sell an audience, it's a pretty compelling marketing package.

But the shimmering visuals cannot sublimate the reality that there's not much happening here other than people sitting in rooms and talking. It's not exactly compelling cinema.

That's true in both time frames, which are intercut throughout the movie. 

In 2012, most of the action takes place in CIA rooms; even the fine actors gathered together for this can't make these scenes play as anything more than glorified table reads. There's a lot of dialogue expended about what to do about the hijacking, but precious little action taken and even less suspense.

As Henry and Celia revisit that seminal professional moment, and the simultaneous dissolution of their relationship, there's a certain degree of interest generated only because the stars are such fine actors.

But the requirements of the plot demand that they spend a lot of time focused on the particulars of what betrayal may have happened and when, and a lot less on why any of it matters.

BOTTOM LINE "All the Old Knives" looks great, but it's slow and talky to a fault.