THE DEBT (2010) – The Review

This movie re-enforces the old adage “what goes around comes around.” Or more specifically that it’s always easier to tell the truth than try to keep track of a lie. With John Madden’s (SHAKESPEAARE IN LOVE) new drama/thriller based on an Israeli film from 2007, three people must deal with a ghost form the past that returns to haunt them more than thirty years later. The question becomes whether they can continue  their story and keep the past buried.

The film begins in 1997 at the release party for a book that Sarah Gold has written about the capture of the notorious Nazi Dr. Dieter Vogel (a Dr. Mengale-type) by her mother Rachel Singer (Helen Mirren), father Stephan Gold (Tom Wilkinson), and David Peretz (Ciaran Hinds), all former Mossad agents. A recent tragedy causes the former married couple, Rachel and Stephan, to reflect on the true events that inspired the new book. We then return to East Berlin, 1966, where young Rachel ( Jessica Chastain ) meets with fellow agents Stephan (Marton Csokas) and David (Sam Worthington). Their mission is to capture Vogel, now posing as a gynecologist named Bernhardt, smuggle him into West Berlin, and ship him to Israel where he will stand trial for his war crimes. All three suffered great losses during World War II, and while training become enmeshed in a romantic triangle. After much preparation the day of the capture arrives. And, as they say, “Even the best laid plans…” Can they now retired agents keep their pledge to each other?

For the mid-section of the film set in 1966, THE DEBT is a tense, taut edge0of your-seat thriller that reminded me of another recent film about the Mossad, MUNICH. Chastain (who’s having quite a year with great roles in THE HELP an TREE OF LIFE) shows her chops as an action hero to great effect particularly in the scenes set in Bernhardt’s examining room. Worthington has an effecting, smoldering intensity as the emotionally wounded David. I was impressed by relative screen newcomer Csokas’s cynical, world-weary portrayal of Stephan. The scenes of them dashing through the Berlin streets and hiding at a train station are very suspenseful. My problem with the film is in the return to Israel 1997. Wilkinson and Mirren are in top form as usual, but the sequences of her returning to her spying days are fairly unbelievable (she was much more convincing in the much lighter recent action flick RED). The final scenes at a medical facilities seem laughably ludicrous compared to the earlier 1966 mission set pieces. I would enjoyed the film more if it just concerned that thirty year old tale of dedicated Nazi hunters. Two thirds of THE DEBT is a terrific, first class thriller. It’s a shame the other third isn’t as compelling.

Overall Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars