Brightest Young Things

The Debt has an effective, suspenseful middle section. The characters are well-defined, and the tensions between them have the appropriate context to justify their actions. To my surprise, some speeches are stirring depictions of Nazi cruelty. For forty-five minutes, at least, The Debt is a damn good thriller. Then its conclusion betrays the logic and character development of what preceded it. Disappointment is not how I’d describe my reaction to the film’s ending. John Madden’s latest has a late-August release date, after all, so expectations are already tempered. Given the number of better, more gut-wrenching ways it could have ended, I was confused. Confused, and curious over what endings, if any, were suggested before this one.

Jumping between two time periods, the screenplay expertly uses flashback to give the material a strong emotional impact. In the mid-60s, three Mossad agents (Jessica Chastain, Marton Csokas, and Sam Worthington) undertake a dangerous mission in East Berlin. They plan to kidnap Dr. Vogel (Jesper Christensen), a Nazi war criminal, and bring him to Israel for trial. Of the three agents, Rachel (Chastain) takes the biggest risk. Dr. Vogel performs gynecological exams on her, and she establishes an uneasy rapport with him. The operation goes bad – Rachel did not administer enough sedative in the struggle – so she, along with Stephan (Csokas) and David (Worthington), keep Dr. Vogel hostage.

The film also jumps forward to the late-90s. A book written by Rachel’s daughter recounts their operation, so the three former agents must relive it. Rachel, now played by Helen Mirren, bears the physical/emotional scars from the mission. She married then divorced Stephan (Tom Wilkinson), who is bound to wheelchair but remains ruthless as ever. And David, now played by Ciarán Hinds, still feels a dark burden from the mission. Through flashbacks and hushed confessions, we learn the sacrifice they made so they could preserve their country’s pride.

The Debt is at its best when the team interacts with Vogel. He’s a nasty piece work, spitting up food and snarling at his captors (Madden uses brusque editing to capture the messiness of keeping someone against his will). With bound hands, Vogel still has capacity for mind games, and he cannily appeals to Rachel’s kindness and David’s rage. The agents already had tension between them – Rachel's shifts affection between Stefan and David  – and Madden only heightens the claustrophobia.  With fine acting from his cast, especially Worthington’s brooding performance, The Debt becomes a high-stakes drama.

For its third act, Madden and his screenwriters strive for catharsis but end up eschewing character development and plot coherence. Describing the conflict in any detail would reveal crucial details, so let’s just say the final act involves Mirren and Wilkinson. Acting as competently as ever, they do what they can with the material. The problem is more systemic: co-writers Matthew Vaughn, Jane Goldman, and Peter Straughan cannot achieve a cogent tone. The final minutes, which require a severe suspension of disbelief, are an affront to the character development Madden and his young cast achieved. Like other semi-competent thrillers, it makes the mistake that violence is an adequate substitute for thoughtfulness.

Some of the best recent thrillers have been about Mossad agents. Spielberg’s Munich, for example, is a masterpiece that memorably examines the psychic toll of ruthless vengeance. Walk on Water, on the other hand, is about forgiveness and how a younger generation struggles to move past their parents’ transgressions. The Debt tries to strike a middle ground between these two attitudes, and offers a muddled view of human nature. Instead of discussing the film’s deliberate ambiguity, I left the theater wondering how a spy could receive an assignment she’s so ill-equipped to handle.

Previously in Another Movie Guy?:

• 9/16: Movie Review: "The Interrupters."
• 9/16: Movie Review: "Straw Dogs."
• 8/26: Movie Review: "Pianomania."
• 8/26: Movie Review: "Brighton Rock."
• 8/19: Movie Review: "The Names of Love."
• 8/19: Movie Review: "Attack the Block."
• 8/12: Movie Review: "The Guard."
• 8/12: Movie Review: "30 Minutes or Less."
• 8/5: Movie Review: "The Devil's Double."
• 8/5: "HE SAID" Movie Review: "The Future."