The Debt

The Debt tells the story of three Mossad agents, and their mission to bring a Nazi war criminal out of East Berlin and to Israel for justice. Taking place both in 1965 and 1997, we see the events of the mission, as well as the fallout for the agents 30 years later as result of those events.  The cast is impressive, Helen Mirren, Ciaran Hinds and Tom Wilkinson play the agents in 1997, and they do an fine job of looking world weary and beaten down by the pressure of the secrets they keep.  But it is the scenes set in 1965 that truly bring the film alive.  The agents in their youth are played by Jessica Chastain, Sam Worthington and Marton Csokas, and their scenes practically vibrate with all the tension and anxiety of inexperienced field officers in over their heads.  The man they are sent to capture is played by Jesper Christensen with a casual malice and lack of fear, and we watch as the agents become captives of a situation spiraling out of control.  They grow moe and more brittle, haunted by unspoken personal demons as well as the man they have been hunting, and the final fracture is the secret they spend the next 30 years trying to forget.

I loved the movie that took place in 1965.  As can be expected, the mission naturally lends itself to more excitement and tension, propelling the story along because we can't wait to figure out what really happened.  But the scenes set in 1997 should have been riveting as well.  Three people, who have suffered their regrets differently for all these years, struggling with heavy secrets and the question of justice and redemption as they grow older, are characters ripe for exploration and drama.  And yet I felt the modern portion of the movie fell flat, not enough ambivalence, or regret was communicated, and the ending itself bordered on preposterous.  I appreciate what the filmmakers were trying to do, but I wish they had simply made a movie about the mission itself and given the three newcomers even more time to shine.

The Debt 1hr 53 min  R