Arguably the best thing about Amazon Prime's somnambulant thriller, "All the Old Knives," is Swedish singer Amanda Bergman's too cool rendition of The Cure's hit, "Lovesong" over the closing credits. The music has a dubious, haunting quality to it, and the lyrics, "Whatever words I say/I will always love you," suggests what this film tries — and fails — to do, which is communicate how love and betrayal sometimes operate in tandem.
The story involves the investigation of a CIA mole eight years after a hijacking incident claimed the lives of more than 100 innocent people. Vick Wallinger (Laurence Fishburne) is the boss in Vienna, and he asks Henry Pelham (Chris Pine) to close the book on an embarrassing situation by tracking down Bill Compton (Jonathan Pryce) and Celia Harrison (Thandiwe Newton) to see if either (or both or neither) of them provided inside information to the hijackers. Moreover, Henry must "do what is necessary" to diffuse the mole. Wallinger won't articulate the word "kill," but Henry is soon hiring Treble (Michael Shaeffer) to eliminate Celia if she is the mole.
