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The Debt - 2/10/2011 2:55:00 PM

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- 2/10/2011 2:55:01 PM

Bighousewill

Posts: 244
Joined: 5/12/2009

Worthington was surprisingly good in this I would say it is the best I have seen him act. Good film not brilliant though but thought provoking and the nazi war criminal that they have to kidnap is vile, as in a decent bad guy.

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Post #: 2

RE: The Debt - 5/10/2011 8:23:18 PM

The Shadows

Posts: 7
Joined: 10/5/2008

Beautiful evocation of the period. Tense scenarios. Twists that shock. Characters that engage. Not an unqualified success - the business in 1997 is less convincing. But there is much more good than bad.

For my money, this is the film that Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy promised to be but wasn't.

Read my review here.

Comments welcome.

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Thoughtful and tense - 7/10/2011 12:31:36 AM

bretty

Posts: 143
Joined: 6/10/2005

Well, I have to say it was better the Tinker Taylor. Had the same period atmosphere and high class acting, but they did more with it. Maybe a slightly unsatisfying ending but plenty else to enjoy and admire. Thought Jesper Christensen was very good indeed and the scenes with him tied up were brilliant bits of drama and acting.

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RE: Thoughtful and tense - 10/10/2011 10:00:44 AM

Timon

Posts: 14541
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: Bristol

You know what? I actually thought (apart from the accent) Sam Worthington was really good it in. His emotional turmoil of David, I thought, was one of the high points.

Of course all the other cast were great (especially Martin Csokas), but always expected them to be. I just felt I had to defend Worthington as due to his role in Avatar, I feel he is rather unfairly bashed.

Anyway, good film but I felt the ending was a misstep and slightly ruined what had gone before.

3/5/5

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Post #: 5

- 9/1/2012 2:36:10 PM

Turd Ferguson

Posts: 70
Joined: 24/2/2011

Good movie that could have been great. Strong performances all around, particularly from the younger set of actors. Lost focus at times but was an entertaining and sometimes thought provoking watch.

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Post #: 6

Tense and Evocative - 9/12/2012 7:38:38 AM

magiclips

Posts: 20
Joined: 12/11/2009

Here's one for you if you like spy movies that are edgy and dark instead of flashy and laden with gimmicks.

Yes, The Debt has problems. The older versions of the three principal characters just don't resemble their younger "selves" sufficiently to be convincing, but that is a minor niggle. We know that they are being played by two separate groups of actors, but for the purposes of the story we can accept them as being one and the same.

A much bigger flaw with this movie is the ending. It is almost as if the story just had to be wrapped up neatly, and instead the finale misfires and comes as a disappointment after the build-up of tension that the film achieves up to that point.

But even that can be forgiven. Overall, The Debt is a highly watchable and gritty piece of cinema, brilliantly evoking the dreary East Berlin of 1965 and counter-balancing it beautifully with the humming, cosmopolitan Tel Aviv of 1997. Jesper Christensen is thoroughly credible as the Nazi war monster-turned-gynaecologist, and for all I know Helen Mirren's Israeli accent is bang on, too. But of course, when does Mirren ever fall short in whatever thespian endeavour she attempts? Never, it seems.

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Post #: 7