Review of The Debt (2010) by Zurino O — 26 Jan 2013

As far as espionage thrillers go, "The Debt" is a personal favorite of mine. Most like it try so hard to be smart and rely of cliches by the ending, but instead, "The Debt" uses an intriguing plot and a complicated storyline to keep the viewer in touch with everything that's going on.

The thriller beings in 1997, thirty-years after three Mossad agents Rachel (Helen Mirren), Stephen (Tom Wilkinson) and David (Ciaran Hinds) tracked down a Nazi war criminal named Vogel (Jasper Christensen), known for portraying a doctor and testing unsuspecting Jewish patients with fatal results. The trio has been beloved for these decades because they supposedly killed him way back in 1966. But after David commits suicide, it seems the truth is more shocking than the public realizes.

Where most viewers found the flashbacks from 1966 to the present day to be confusing, I actually thought it made the "The Debt" better. Not only does it showcase the eternally talented Jessica Chastain (who portrays the young Rachel), but it makes it so you have to watch the movie at all times. The film isn't simply presented to us: instead, we're fed the story and eventually, the wait pays off. Because you know that the plot isn't going to end up being feel-good, it adds even more to the experience, making the finale even more sensational.

The writing both works as an intelligent screenplay and an absorbing character study, and the acting, especially from Mirren, Chastain, and Christensen, is so flawless that they could've been serious Oscar contenders if this film hadn't been so overlooked when released. "The Debt" is a superb thriller that already deserves the title "underrated". Recommended.