Target Number One (released as Most Wanted in the United States, Suspect numéro un in Quebec) is a 2020 Canadian crime drama film directed by Daniel Roby. Based on the true story of Alain Olivier, a Canadian drug addict from Quebec who spent eight years in prison in Thailand in the 1980s after having been set up as an unwitting pawn in an espionage plot by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the film stars Josh Hartnett as Canadian investigative journalist Victor Malarek, investigating the arrest of drug addict Daniel Léger (Antoine Olivier Pilon). The film's cast also includes Jim Gaffigan, Stephen McHattie, Don McKellar, J.C. MacKenzie, and Amanda Crew.
The film was theatrically released in Canada on July 10, 2020, and on video on demand services in the United States on July 24, 2020.
Plot
In 1989, Canadian journalist Victor Malarek investigates the circumstances surrounding the suspicious arrest of Daniel Léger, a 25-year-old heroin addict serving time in a prison in Thailand and facing the death penalty.
Malarek is a dedicated investigative journalist working for The Globe and Mail newspaper who is being pressured by his boss to move to writing weekly feature articles. He comes across the strange case of a Canadian citizen under arrest in Thailand after a joint investigation by Canadian and Thai authorities, in which Léger is identified as a mastermind in the drug trafficking trade. Malarek's interest is piqued when he queries a few details with the Canadian authorities and receives push back. He decides to dig deeper and uncovers some worrying items about the case. He brings the case to his editor Art with a view to doing a piece. Art reluctantly agrees to let Malarek visit Thailand to interview the Thai authorities and Léger.
The film then splits and introduces Daniel Léger, shown to be little more than a drug addict who unwittingly took a job with dealer Glen Picker. Picker befriends the naïve Léger and offers to let him stay and work for him, all the while intending to set up Léger for a pay-off from the Canadian police narcotics division. He identifies Léger as a major player in the Thai drug world and indicates that Léger can organize a major shipment of heroin to be smuggled to Canada. The narcotics police, in need of a major morale-boosting drug seizure, fall for Picker's scam. The lead detective, Frank Cooper, makes an egregious error while reviewing Léger's file and mistakes him for another criminal with a detailed criminal history.
Picker manipulates Léger into meeting with Detective Cooper under the guise of a favor and believes the ruse that Cooper is a drug smuggler. The narcotics operation hits a snag when it's uncovered that Léger is nervous to travel to Thailand, and he has had his passport withheld. The Canadian police arrange for Léger's passport to be issued and pay for the young man's flights, hotels and expenses in Thailand. Léger, left with no other options, travels to Thailand and tries to put together a drug buy but can only find a Tuk Tuk driver who can get two kilos of heroin. The Canadian police agree to the deal but it goes awry.
Léger turns up with Cooper, who is working undercover, and the suppliers arrive separately. There is a struggle, and in the chaos that ensues, Detective Cooper shoots his son Al Cooper fatally. The drug suppliers are arrested, alongside Léger, and taken to a Thai prison.
Malarek meets with and interviews Léger, uncovering the aforementioned details. Upon leaving the prison, Malarek shouts to Léger to plead guilty, as he will likely be found guilty and given the death penalty otherwise. At the trial, Léger is unable to understand the proceedings. Detective Cooper testifies falsely that Léger is a hardened criminal with a long list of convictions in Canada. Léger pleads his innocence, but once he has been found guilty, he alters his plea to guilty and receives a 100-year sentence.
In Canada, Malarek is feeling pressure to proceed with the investigation. He loses his job at The Globe and Mail and on TV and his wife leaves him due to the pressure. A last ray of hope is offered when Malarek's article is read by the newly formed ethics investigation department, who review Léger's case and petition him to respond.
The film concludes with Léger's release from a Thailand prison, where he kicked his addiction. He then educates himself in the Thai judicial system and, after serving eight years, manages to get a prison transfer. Malarek meets him at the airport, where it is revealed that both of Léger's parents have passed, but it is shown that Léger maintains a positive outlook and is practicing Buddhism.