The Debt

Decent craftsmanship. Three Mossad agents vs. a Nazi war criminal. Madden build a convincing atmosphere on both sides of the time line and the actors don’t let him down. I enjoyed the younger members of the cast more, Jessica Chastain is a fox and on the same acting level as Helen Mirren, and even Sam Worthington rocks in Berlin (the scene with the plate). An excellent, nicely tight story with an unexpected, although rather strange ending. And Newman’s music is first rate. (11/27/2011)

I don't know, I don't know, but based on what I have been able to see lately, I feel that the American thriller is in decline. Whether it's the films "Man on a Ledge," "Contraband," "Colombiana," or even "The Debt," none of them are groundbreaking. After "Man on a Ledge," I once again encounter Sam Worthington in a thriller, who - if nothing else - at least proves in this case that he still has some acting ability. Except for that terrible accent. The structure of the film is quite interesting as it takes place in two different time periods. One is the "present" (which is actually the year 1997) and the other is the year 1965, specifically in Berlin. In the older date, an event occurs that has consequences for the future. Excellent casting, however, does not guarantee the realization of potential. The same can be said for the screenplay, which, although it hints at interesting moments - especially the submarine emerging from long confinement in the apartment - ultimately only represents something incredibly long and boring. I have always felt that a thriller should be a suspenseful film, where you eagerly await what will happen next. But films like "Die Hard" are not made every day. The attempt to incorporate emotions and focus on human fates in "The Debt" did not work out. Instead of being thrilling, the film is boring. Therefore, it becomes tedious and ultimately uninteresting. The two different time periods actually dilute the story even more instead of helping it. This is really a shame because I had high expectations from the cast. More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2012/08/jane-eyre-ekologicka-afrika-cislo.html (02/24/2013)

(This review contains SPOILERS.) Vagina dentata. Those who know a woman’s secret (rosebud) will not be able to get over it. Whereas the men are punished for their weakness for the opposite sex, the woman is tormented because she failed to shoot her nemesis with a phallic weapon (based on the information as it is conveyed to us, Vogel knows the most about her). She has thus wrongly enjoyed the benefits of the “masculine” world for thirty years; her legitimacy does not apply. It’s as if the inner suffering wasn’t enough; the confrontation with her materialised subconscious (the connection is emphasised by Vogel’s appearance in Rachel's dream; he thus penetrated not only her body, but also her mind) has cost her her beauty. For the rest of her life, she will have a face disfigured by a conspicuous scar. This is probably only one of the reasons that she spends years with Stefan, whom she obviously does not love. Another thing that keeps them together is a shared lie – as spouses, they can easily ensure that the other will not divulge what the public should not hear. Their life together is thus based on distrust. The elimination of men, or rather their manhood (Stefan is paralysed “only” from the waist down), represents the real objective of the vengeful mission of the film’s main character, Rachel, a woman driven by her own frustration: She has to deny her true identity, reveal her genitals to a sadistic doctor, face aggressive assaults from a man who has always loved his country more than her… Like in a slasher movie, she ultimately becomes the “final girl”, which she is destined to become as the only strong character from the beginning. Vogel is reminiscent of a horror-movie monster, Stefan doesn’t stand out with many positive qualities and David plays a submissive role in the love triangle from the beginning (in the fights, he’s a bit actor playing the victim who ends up on the ground; he even cooks). ___ I realise that a more thorough viewing (I’ve seen the film only once so far) would reveal the variability of the opinions present here, as well as the fact that this is not a model film for the chosen type of interpretation. At the same time, it allows such an interpretation, which is mainly what I intended to point out with this “alternative” review. And otherwise, The Debt is a thriller that works superbly with the characters’ motivations (I like Jessica Chastain all the more) and the atmosphere (classic submarine), but it works better in the first half and rather in individual scenes (the train) than in the second half and especially in the ending, when the contradictory nature of its dramatic structure becomes apparent (the film suddenly solves a different problem) along with the gratuitousness of the initially delightfully bold narrative low blows. 75% (10/23/2011)

Half of the film is a fascinating trip to the heart of darkness and half is the mechanical sweeping of the dry mud of history under a neat genre carpet. There’s something to Matty's interpretation; perhaps I would just add that the chemistry of the Mossad and Vogel agents is extremely functional and has spark. Unfortunately, only as long as they're all young. In 1997, all that remains of all this magic is a persistent and schematic thriller with an inadvertently comic ending that blocks out the beautiful vibration of East Berlin. In any case, madden killed Vogel through the scenes of "gynecological" interrogation and abduction that were over the line, not only by his standards, but also by genre standards. I've never seen more luxurious old school... well, since Munich. [70%] (10/28/2011)

Very respectable, both as a psychological drama and as a suspenseful thriller. However, it would have been better to focus more on one or the other. The Debt could have then found a more distinctive place in cinema alongside, for example, the dramatic Munich or the thriller Valkyrie, next to which it is more likely to gather dust as it is. John Madden tries at all costs to engage American viewers while intellectually fulfilling Europeans and narrowly misses the mark. Ignore the ending, which is utterly inappropriate and calls my four-star rating into question. (11/01/2011)