The Debt- Movie Review

Directed by John Madden.
Screenplay by Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman and Peter Straughan, based on the 2007 Israeli film of the same name (or Ha-Hov in its original language) by Assaf Bernstein and Ido Rosenblum.
Running Time: 113 minutes (1h, 53 mins.)
Rated R (for some violence and language).
Distributor: Focus Features/Miramax

On December 3rd, 2010, The Walt Disney Company committed what I think had to be one of the biggest mistakes in their history: they sold Miramax Films for $663 million to an investment company entitled Filmyard Holdings. At that time, at least four films were developed at Miramax and were ready for release. It's a good thing they weren't put into oblivion, so they decided to delay them in order for a proper release. The four films developed there were The Debt (the movie that is the subject of this review), a remake of an Israeli film of the same name, The Tempest, Julie Taymor's adaptation of the William Shakespeare classic, Gnomeo & Juliet, an animated retelling of another Shakespeare classic which involves gnomes, of course, and Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, Guillermo Del Toro's version of the 1973 television film of the same name.

Disney decided to keep The Tempest and Gnomeo and Juliet and release them both under its Touchstone Pictures banner while Don't Be Afraid of the Dark and The Debt were sold to FilmDistrict and Focus Features respectively. While Tempest didn't make close to a million when released last December, Gnomeo became a surprise hit, grossing a impressive $99.9 million domestically earlier this year. Dark was released last week and has been struggling at the box office and now we come to The Debt. Basically, two reasons why I saw this film was because it was out of the respect I have for Miramax Films and I needed some good thrills and Shark Night 3D didn't satisfy my needs.

The thriller shifts between two time periods: the 1960's and the 1990's. The movie begins in 1997, when retired Mossad agents Rachel (Helen Mirren) and Stefan (Tom Wilkinson) learn that their former partner, David (Ciaran Hinds) has died (can't say how due to spoilers). They undertook a mission back in 1966, when all three (played in their younger years by Jessica Chastain, Marton Csokas and Sam Worthington) had to track down Vogel (Jesper Christenson), a notorious Nazi doctor who's done human experimentation in extermination camps. The mission was accomplished and Rachel wrote a book detailing the events. But not everything in the book is what it seems. Developments in the Ukraine have said that the Surgeon of Birkenau is still alive, so either Rachel and David didn't know or they're not admitting the real story. Phew, made it through that without any big spoiler. Sometimes I find it hard to write a review on a thriller.

The performances in here are exceptional. I don't need to talk too much about Helen Mirren and Tom Wilkinson. They're both great as always. It's the younger versions of themselves that I really enjoyed. I liked Sam Worthington. It's roles like this that continue to cement his status as a great actor. Marton Csokas (who I remember well from the Lord of the Rings trilogy) is good as well, but it's Jessica Chastain that steals the show in a lot of scenes. From getting some awards buzz for The Tree of Life to making a guy like me drop his jaw on the floor in The Help, this is definitely her year. Jesper Christenson displays the fear of the evil doctor superbly, especially in the scenes where he plays with the young agents' minds.

The greatly stylish direction comes from John Madden (not the football dude, in case you were wondering), who directed the Oscar-winning Shakespeare in Love (third time I mentioned Shakespeare in this review). Frankly as much I enjoyed that film, when it was up against Saving Private Ryan, I don't think it should have won Best Picture, but hey, I'm not part of the Academy, so I can't go back in time and change that. While the opening credits roll, Madden sets up a one-shot sequence which is wonderfully shot by cinematographer Ben Davis. Somehow, my heart started pounding with this sequence, even though I didn't know what was going to happen next. The writing co-written by Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman, the same team that brought us Kick-Ass, Stardust and X-Men: First Class, is smart, taut and politically charged.

I'm not exactly sure if I'd call this one of the best films of the year just yet, but I do know that this film gave me a hell of a good time. It's clear that Madden, Vaughn, Goldman and Peter Straughan have created a nicely-crafted, almost heartstopping espionage thriller filled with unforgettable performances, a smartly written script, some good twists in between and awesome action sequences. I give the film ***1/2 (3 stars and a half).