The Debt (2011)

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Blistering performances.

The worst casting ever! The young verses the old ....horrible....back and forth, such a disappointing movie.

The movie is supposed to be on the death camp doctor Joseph Mengele and the Mossad attempt to capture him, the sterling performances by Helen Mirren and Jessica Chastain do not make up for glaring omissions in the plot. No scenes were depicted of what Vogel (Mengele) got upto in the concentration camps, in fact no scenes depicted in camps at all, so no context or background is indicated. The movie builds up to quite a crescendo in the end, then falls dead flat without any conclusion at all at the end, which is a complete anticlimax.

This cold war spy story takes place in two time periods - 1965 and 1997. Three Mossad agents are sent into East Berlin to retrieve the Nazi war criminal. However, things do not go according to plan. The details of which have been repressed but are now threatening to break into the light and bring the agents and their mission into a very public eye.If you like spy thrillers you may like this one, it is beautifully filmed though a tad on the slow side with a story which isn't as strong as the acting.The writers do a great job with interweaving past with the present, especially where the secrets are concerned. Having Rachel's daughter publishing a book about her and the mission at the time when things are starting to unravel is a brilliant idea, though I don't think it's fully utilised and expanded upon, because when the truth is revealed it will make her daughter look inexperienced as an investigative reporter. This would have added greater depth and better characterisation of Helen Mirren's Rachel; which it needed. There was enough space within the story to accomplish this as there are scenes which are too drawn out. The ending is predictable and feels like it's been tagged on to give the story a happier ending. To me, it felt like a cop out and once again showed the differences between the Rachel characters.Another drawback is the secret itself. I for one cannot understand why they didn't tell the truth, to begin with. That way they could have just got on with rectifying the situation. It was this thought that through the rest of the film out of balance by making it feel weak and pointless.It was the acting, especially from the 1965 cast, which carried the story and the film. Chastain's Rachel is an intelligent and strong individual; this, however, is not the case with Mirren's Rachel who doesn't appear to have these characteristics. To be honest, only Wilkinson's and Csokas' Stephen Gold could be the same person. These differences in the main characters slightly detracted me from the movie.As for the direction, this could have been tighter at times to create an exciting atmosphere when needed and slower at other times to build suspense. Unfortunately, the director opts for a steady pace, which at times, is too slow and verges on boring. The locations are great and give the feel of the period, as does the lighting, Along with some nicely thought out camera shots, it adds strength and atmosphere to the film.I'd recommend this to all lovers of spy thrillers, though if you're new to the genre I wouldn't start with this film; it's not the best of its kind and may put you off watching other better spy thrillers. That said, it is worth at least one watch.

" The debt " is about three Mossad agents which live with and suffer from a simple lie for over two decades . They made a slight change in their story when they came back home , which deceived their government and made them popular among people. In 1965 , Mossad agent Rachel Singer arrives in East Berlin to meet with fellow agent David Peretz and Stephen Gold . Their mission is to capture an infamous Nazi war surgeon who experimented unspeakable tests on Jews during WWII and give him what he truly deserves, justice.A skillfully made movie which will catch your eyes and will tell you two different version of one story , a fake one which was made by the agents to deceive the government and was meant to be the key to the agents' freedom , and the real version which could have been a disaster and turned them into criminals who betrayed their country . One of the best scenes in the movie is when they kidnap the notorious surgeon with their considerable plan that seems flawless and with a brilliant teamwork which ends in an outstanding success. This scene wants us to be patient and hold our breath till it finishes. Jessica Chastain as the main role is quite believable and her performance is rather moving.I believe that if the movie stayed just in the past, now we could have a better movie. Although it is good enough to grab our attention I assume that the writers wanted to add a little mystery to their thriller and create a puzzle in our mind, and regardless of what they did, we don't need to rack our brains to grasp the idea of the movie. All in all it's a watch-worthy movie.