The fine performances of the entire cast of "The Debt" are my only reason for giving this film six stars. The story had good potential as a post-Holocaust and World War II thriller. But its very subject -- an operation by the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad, is what loses credit for the film. That's because of the several failings of the agents in the operation. It wasn't long into the film when my attention was drawn more to the mistakes of the expertly trained agents, than to the mission itself and the intrigue surrounding it. So, I soon found myself watching for the next mistake instead of being engrossed in the story itself. I don't think that's what the filmmakers want of any audience. But, I suspect this may have been true for any number of other viewers as well, judging from some of the reviews I've read.
While any covert operation is bound to run into a glitch here or there, I don't know of any true events that have had so many glitches. This movie of course, is fiction. But consider some of the real covert operations that have succeeded for Israel. On May 11, 1960, Mossad agents abducted Nazi Adolf Eichmann from Argentina where he had been in hiding since 1950. He was tried in Israel for his leadership in the Holocaust and was hanged in 1962. Numerous other operations by the Israeli intelligence network have occurred in many countries. And, on July 4, 1976, Israeli intelligence and the military planned and carried out a huge counter- terrorist effort. Operation Thunderbolt was the name of the Israeli commando raid on the Entebbe International Airport in Uganda. That raid covered more than 2,500 miles to free the remaining hostages of an Air France flight that had been hijacked. It took just one week to plan and carry out the raid. A TV movie was made on that operation in 1976 -- "Raid on Entebbe."
So, in "The Debt" we have a fictitious operation carried out by three agents in 1965. Mossad was established in 1947, and its agents were highly trained and expert in all aspects of covert operations. Indeed, the movie shows their hand-to-hand combat skills early. Only one of the agents – Stephan Gold (played by Tom Wilkinson and Marton Csokas) appears to be fully competent though. But even he fails to make sure that Dieter Vogel is completely secured when they begin their escape. Had Vogel not been able to honk the horn in the van and draw the attention of the East German guards, the abduction-escape looked like it would work.
The young Rachel Singer and David Perez made mistake after mistake. They violated training and listened and reacted to the talk of their prisoner, Vogel. In both instances, it led to serious errors on their part. But, even after those errors, they didn't recover. In the first instance, David doesn't think to clean up broken pieces of a dish that could be used to cut ropes – as Vogel indeed used a piece of broken glass to get free and then to attack Rachel. Rachel also failed to clean up the entire mess herself. And, when she saw that Vogel had gotten free, she walked into the room where she could be attacked from behind. She didn't alert her fellow agents first. She didn't pull her gun, and approach the room by checking each side. She just walked ahead with a dumb-founded look of disbelief that the prisoner wasn't still tied up where he was. Is there a single viewer of this film who didn't know she would be attacked from behind?
Now, I credit the actors with very good performances. But, the script and direction that had these agents act like such stumble-bums is a very poor characterization of what may be the world's most competently trained and able covert agents. But, even with Rachel's seeming lack of security and pursuit training, she seemed to be able to take down her two male agents, both much bigger men and close to her age. She showed that ability again when she was able to subdue Vogel in his doctor's office. She was 25 and he was close to 60. But, he defeats her after he escapes following a heavy beating by David. And then, at the film's end, the once again alert but not alert Rachel is taken down by Vogel. Only this time, she's 57 years old and he is over 90 years old. So much for her abilities.
Other aspects of this film – wrestling with truth, selfishness versus concern for others, etc. get convoluted and don't find any resolution. So, the ending is probably right on. We don't know if Rachel lives to see her daughter shamed or not. But, she has taken the steps to see that that will happen. And then there is the tough David who was so bent on justice for one of the Nazi henchmen who contributed to the killing of his whole family. He is so hurt in conscience by the travail of their failed mission after 30 years, and the thought that nobody else knows the truth, that he has to step in front of a truck to end his own life of misery. Maybe this film is more about pride than anything else. That would explain why the agents would lie – to cover up their incompetency. Instead of for the good of all Israel – as Stephan argued. This movie might have one redeeming value. It could be used as a training film for new recruits and old hands in the security and intelligence fields. It shows what not to do, and what happens when one doesn't follow his or her training.
While any covert operation is bound to run into a glitch here or there, I don't know of any true events that have had so many glitches. This movie of course, is fiction. But consider some of the real covert operations that have succeeded for Israel. On May 11, 1960, Mossad agents abducted Nazi Adolf Eichmann from Argentina where he had been in hiding since 1950. He was tried in Israel for his leadership in the Holocaust and was hanged in 1962. Numerous other operations by the Israeli intelligence network have occurred in many countries. And, on July 4, 1976, Israeli intelligence and the military planned and carried out a huge counter- terrorist effort. Operation Thunderbolt was the name of the Israeli commando raid on the Entebbe International Airport in Uganda. That raid covered more than 2,500 miles to free the remaining hostages of an Air France flight that had been hijacked. It took just one week to plan and carry out the raid. A TV movie was made on that operation in 1976 -- "Raid on Entebbe."
So, in "The Debt" we have a fictitious operation carried out by three agents in 1965. Mossad was established in 1947, and its agents were highly trained and expert in all aspects of covert operations. Indeed, the movie shows their hand-to-hand combat skills early. Only one of the agents – Stephan Gold (played by Tom Wilkinson and Marton Csokas) appears to be fully competent though. But even he fails to make sure that Dieter Vogel is completely secured when they begin their escape. Had Vogel not been able to honk the horn in the van and draw the attention of the East German guards, the abduction-escape looked like it would work.
The young Rachel Singer and David Perez made mistake after mistake. They violated training and listened and reacted to the talk of their prisoner, Vogel. In both instances, it led to serious errors on their part. But, even after those errors, they didn't recover. In the first instance, David doesn't think to clean up broken pieces of a dish that could be used to cut ropes – as Vogel indeed used a piece of broken glass to get free and then to attack Rachel. Rachel also failed to clean up the entire mess herself. And, when she saw that Vogel had gotten free, she walked into the room where she could be attacked from behind. She didn't alert her fellow agents first. She didn't pull her gun, and approach the room by checking each side. She just walked ahead with a dumb-founded look of disbelief that the prisoner wasn't still tied up where he was. Is there a single viewer of this film who didn't know she would be attacked from behind?
Now, I credit the actors with very good performances. But, the script and direction that had these agents act like such stumble-bums is a very poor characterization of what may be the world's most competently trained and able covert agents. But, even with Rachel's seeming lack of security and pursuit training, she seemed to be able to take down her two male agents, both much bigger men and close to her age. She showed that ability again when she was able to subdue Vogel in his doctor's office. She was 25 and he was close to 60. But, he defeats her after he escapes following a heavy beating by David. And then, at the film's end, the once again alert but not alert Rachel is taken down by Vogel. Only this time, she's 57 years old and he is over 90 years old. So much for her abilities.
Other aspects of this film – wrestling with truth, selfishness versus concern for others, etc. get convoluted and don't find any resolution. So, the ending is probably right on. We don't know if Rachel lives to see her daughter shamed or not. But, she has taken the steps to see that that will happen. And then there is the tough David who was so bent on justice for one of the Nazi henchmen who contributed to the killing of his whole family. He is so hurt in conscience by the travail of their failed mission after 30 years, and the thought that nobody else knows the truth, that he has to step in front of a truck to end his own life of misery. Maybe this film is more about pride than anything else. That would explain why the agents would lie – to cover up their incompetency. Instead of for the good of all Israel – as Stephan argued. This movie might have one redeeming value. It could be used as a training film for new recruits and old hands in the security and intelligence fields. It shows what not to do, and what happens when one doesn't follow his or her training.