With a cast like this, how can this movie fail? Taut, tense, compelling, and a little bloody, The Debt tells the story of three Mossad agents who infiltrate East Germany in 1965 to capture an escaped Nazi doctor who experimented and killed hundreds at the Birkenau concentration camp during World War II. Their mission: snatch him and take him back to Israel for trial. The film opens in modern times as one the agents, Rachel Singer (Helen Mirren), is being honored for her work as chronicled by her daughter in a new book. Singer, we find out, shot and killed Doktor Bernhardt (Jesper Christensen in a sinister performance) as he tried to escape from his trio of captors. The other two, David (Ciaran Hinds) and Stephan (Tom Wilkinson), turn up, too. David has been absent for a long time, presumably sick as well. Stephan (not Steven but Steffan) is Singer's ex-husband and a major government official but now limited physically and confined to a wheelchair. Their relationship is not friendly but they share a daughter whose coming-out party as an author is a really big deal.
Flash back to 1965 and we meet them decades earlier as they carry out their dangerous assignment. Lethal killers, the three (played by exceptional actors Jessica Chastain, Marton Csokas, and Avatar's Sam Worthington) are all business (well, almost). Their plan is precise. They have to get into East Germany, confirm the identity of the war criminal, drug him, bag him, take him across the border into the West, and get him back to Israel. The doctor, now practicing as a gynecologist (ooo!), sees Rachel as a patient, where she undergoes an exam, takes surreptitious pictures of the doctor to confirm his identity and to set him up. Her cohorts plan the escape. It comes off almost flawlessly but the plan goes awry just as they are ready to escape. The protagonists and their prey are stranded in an apartment in East Germany with no way out.
While the film flashes forward and back, we find out more of the story, the secrets the trio have been keeping for all these years, and the back-story we missed. That leads us to Act III, the thrilling conclusion of this spy yarn. To tell you more would be giving the story away but, suffice it to say, this is where Helen Mirren shines as always. Now well into her 60s, Mirren remains at the top of her game and, arguably, gets the best parts for older women, including Meryl Streep. She has been in action films, comedies, and heavy dramas. Wilkinson's role is quite limited and Hinds has little more than a cameo but makes the most of it. The real stars are the younger actors, all of whom are truly fantastic here.
The accents these British, Kiwi, and American actors (of the principals, only Chastain is American) assume represent my only problem with the film. Presumably, they are playing Israelis, whose English accent is very distinctive. These six actors seem to have six different accents with Wilkinson having the least authentic. Of course, some of them have to speak German, too. And Mirren even has to speak Russian (which she did in White Nights). But this is quibbling. Filmed in Hungary and Israel, The Debt is the thriller of the year so far. I really liked it. Don't let the warnings of the few violent scenes keep you away. They weren't that bad but they kept my wife away from the film.
Flash back to 1965 and we meet them decades earlier as they carry out their dangerous assignment. Lethal killers, the three (played by exceptional actors Jessica Chastain, Marton Csokas, and Avatar's Sam Worthington) are all business (well, almost). Their plan is precise. They have to get into East Germany, confirm the identity of the war criminal, drug him, bag him, take him across the border into the West, and get him back to Israel. The doctor, now practicing as a gynecologist (ooo!), sees Rachel as a patient, where she undergoes an exam, takes surreptitious pictures of the doctor to confirm his identity and to set him up. Her cohorts plan the escape. It comes off almost flawlessly but the plan goes awry just as they are ready to escape. The protagonists and their prey are stranded in an apartment in East Germany with no way out.
While the film flashes forward and back, we find out more of the story, the secrets the trio have been keeping for all these years, and the back-story we missed. That leads us to Act III, the thrilling conclusion of this spy yarn. To tell you more would be giving the story away but, suffice it to say, this is where Helen Mirren shines as always. Now well into her 60s, Mirren remains at the top of her game and, arguably, gets the best parts for older women, including Meryl Streep. She has been in action films, comedies, and heavy dramas. Wilkinson's role is quite limited and Hinds has little more than a cameo but makes the most of it. The real stars are the younger actors, all of whom are truly fantastic here.
The accents these British, Kiwi, and American actors (of the principals, only Chastain is American) assume represent my only problem with the film. Presumably, they are playing Israelis, whose English accent is very distinctive. These six actors seem to have six different accents with Wilkinson having the least authentic. Of course, some of them have to speak German, too. And Mirren even has to speak Russian (which she did in White Nights). But this is quibbling. Filmed in Hungary and Israel, The Debt is the thriller of the year so far. I really liked it. Don't let the warnings of the few violent scenes keep you away. They weren't that bad but they kept my wife away from the film.