The Debt Review

From Yahoo!

The Good – Jessica Chastain. Jesper Christensen. A solid, twisting, turning spy story.

The Bad – A little trouble with the Israeli accents here and there.

It’s been a while since we’ve had a good spy thriller in theaters, and I’m glad to say that The Debt fits the bill nicely.

The Debt concerns a Mossad cell’s operation to capture a notorious Nazi war criminal, the Surgeon of Birkenau, and return him to Israel for trial. The story is split into two timeframes, 1966, when the operation to capture the doctor takes place, and 1997, when the agents experience fallout from their actions during the mission.

Both time periods feature excellent groups of actors with Jessica Chastain, Sam Worthington and Marton Csokas as the younger group and Helen Mirren, Tom Wilkinson and Ciaran Hinds as the older group. It’s a real treat to watch the Mossad agents work together as they plan for and execute the kidnapping. The script by Matthew Vaughn and direction by John Madden (not the football John Madden, though I bet he would make an insane spy thriller) keeps the action moving along nicely in the 1966 portion of the film. Things slow down and get a bit talky when the film jumps to 1997, but the conclusion is satisfying.

Chastain and Christensen give especially noteworthy performances. Chastain is mesmerizing as the young Mossad operative who ropes in the doctor at his clinic. She does a great job portraying a young, vulnerable woman who is doing dangerous work because of her great sense of patriotism for Israel and loyalty to her family. This is a breakout role for her. Christensen handles the role of the Nazi doctor with a wonderful amount of menace and seems to be enjoying himself immensely as he battles wits with the Mossad agents.

Jessica Chastain
From Yahoo!

The Debt is a solid piece of cinema that should fill the need for a political, spy thriller in your life. It touches on aspects of national identity, family loss, and the extents to which people go to try to make a difference.

3.5 out of 5