The Debt (2011)

The Debt is the story of three agents, played by Jessica Chastain, Sam Worthington, and Marton Csokas, who are asked to kidnap and deliver to their superiors a Nazi doctor who killed thousands during the second World War. Their story is told in extended detail, from the very beginnings of these agents meeting up and finding the old man, right up until the dramatic conclusion. The movie does not begin with the story, however, opting to instead start by showing us the three agents, now Helen Mirren, Tom Wilkinson, and Ciaran Hinds, a few decades later. We see one of them kill himself. We are quickly told, more or less, the outcome of the movie we are about to see. It does change slightly by the time it reaches its end, but it still doesn't help that we now go through the entire seventy minutes of the story knowing just exactly what the result will be. The opening scenes last only a few minutes, but I can't remember the last time that just a few minutes completely ruined an otherwise good movie.

I feel pretty strongly about the direction this movie took and I think it was a really bad idea. I have nothing wrong with movies told outside of chronology, mostly when it helps build the suspense of what will occur. It certainly shouldn't ruin it. If you're watching a courtroom drama that can only succeed when leaning on the idea that the main character may or may not be convicted, the movie does not succeed if we are told during the first scene. So you see my frustration, made all the worse by the fact that the very long flashback that makes up the majority of the movie is very good. It is one of the better-crafted action thrillers I've seen recently and its three stars all do decent acting jobs. Scenes are especially stolen by the wonderfully evil character played by Jesper Christensen. If this really long flashback had been a movie by itself, I would have been twice as pleased after seeing it. But it functions only as a really long flashback, ruining any chances of our getting anywhere near involved with it, because we know at any minute everything will fade back to the present and Helen Mirren will still be weeping over her lost lover's suicide.

Just look at Shakespeare in Love or Proof and you know John Madden can make a good movie. The Debt is not at all a bad movie, but it is very misguided. With a simple shift in editing this would have been a good movie. As is, it is only acceptable. Let's hope that those involved learn from this mistake, and maybe their next effort will be much better.

7/10