THE DEBT Review

Considering the talent involved, The Debt is a colossal disappointment. It's well-made and well-performed, but two major miscalculations prevent it from rising above mediocrity.

First, it's structured as a lengthy flashback, bookended by extended sequences that take place 30 years later. So we know from the beginning how the flashback will end, or, rather, we know how it's supposed to end. Note: This is not a spoiler; the film spoils itself by its very structure. (I don't believe anything else in this review can be constituted as a spoiler.) Thus, we watch the flashback play out in the style of an action thriller, but one that is meticulously detailed, knowing that it will either end up exactly as originally portrayed -- making the flashback no more than an academic exercise -- or will end up slightly (or significantly) different. Either way, it saps the flashback of any tension it might otherwise develop, rendering it a tedious test of  endurance.

Second, it imposes a romantic triangle upon a historical event, a common strategy for increasing potential audience interest. The Debt is a remake of the 2007 Israeli film Ha-Hov, which I have not seen. One of the few English-language reviews online, by Richard Feilden at SBCC Film Reviews, details the basic plot trajectory, confirming that the remake makes several key changes from the original. Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman (Kick-Ass) wrote a script that captured the attention of director John Madden, who then worked with screenwriter Peter Straughan to shift the "thematic emphasis of the film." (Vaughn, Goldman, and Straughan share on-screen credit for the script.) The romantic triangle remains, however, and is a major focus of the story and the fulcrum of the plot machinations. Thus, the movie effectively reduces the idea of hunting Nazi war criminals to violent wallpaper, something discordant and jarring to serve as background music that can occasionally be amplified to grab attention.

The three main characters are portrayed by Helen Mirren, Tom Wilkinson, and Ciarán Hinds in 1997, and by Jessica Chastain, Marton Csokas, and Sam Worthington in 1965. The three younger versions are members of the Mossad, officially known as The Institute for Intelligence and Special Intelligence. Their mission is to confirm the identity of Dieter Vogel (Jesper Christensen), the so-called Surgeon of Birkenau (the camp where Josef Mengele committed his atrocities), and kidnap him so that he can be returned to Israel to stand trial for his war crimes. He is reportedly living in East Berlin and working under another name as a gynecologist.

Chastain and Worthington pose as a married couple having trouble getting pregnant, but it's Chastain who must visit the evil doctor and clandestinely snap photos to prove his identity. As the trio waits to carry out the kidnapping, they get to know each other, and intimate feelings develop. The kidnapping goes wrong, leading to an extended, nightmarish experience in their shared apartment.

The narrative glides uneasily between 1965 and 1997 before settling down to recount the mission in detail. The performances by Chastain, Worthington, Csokas, and Christensen are all fine, as are the older versions of the characters essayed by Mirren, Wilkinson, and Hinds. Other than a degree of narrative confusion, The Debt is a straightforward drama with muted thriller elements that sometimes stretch the bounds of believability.

Madden is best known for Shakespeare in Love, as well as the respectable yet stodgy Captain Corelli's Mandolin and Proof. He's fashioned a good-looking piece of work that can't escape the weighty gravity of the two major miscalculations that are woven into the fabric and soul of the movie.

The Debt opens today in wide release in Canada, India, and the U.S. Check local listings for theaters and showtimes.

Photo credits: Laurie Sparham. Copyright 2011 Focus Features.