“The Debt” is in theaters now. The film has one of those trailers that tells you it’s really good, though you’re probably not sure of exactly what’s going on. Fortunately for you, I’m here to demystify things for you.
It all begins in 1966 when three undercover Mossad agents — portrayed by Jessica Chastain, “Avatar” actor Sam Worthington and “xXx” actor Marton Csokas — go under deep cover in East Berlin to capture the war criminal known as the Surgeon of Birkenau.
The mission gets prickly and the young operatives decide to tell a great lie.
Thirty years later, the trio are acted by Helen Mirren, Ciaran Hinds and Tom Wilkinson. That lie has had ripple effects that they no longer can ignore.
“The Debt,” which I would have titled “The Lie,” is part hard-hitting action/espionage thriller and part drama.
Its story is sharp, commanding and well-acted, even if none of our actors actually seem to be Jewish.
There’s lots of suspense. Mirren proves she can do anything. Worthington some-
how is even cuter than he was in “Avatar.” And Jessica Chastain, who also acted in “The Help,” now is my favorite actress.
I’m a fan!
We’ve been on a roll of late as far as mostly positive film reviews. I was a fan of “Limitless,” “Colombiana,” “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” and “The Help.”
But there are some stinkers out there, and I’ll go ahead and take this time to warn you about one of them.
“The Speed of Thought” is on DVD now. It stars Nick Stahl of “Terminator 3” and “Sin City.”
Stahl acts as a government operative utilized for his psychic abilities. It was so poorly written that I couldn’t even get through the entire movie. I just turned it off.