I saw an advance screening of The Debt tonight. I'll admit, it was a film I kept my eye on once I read about it on the IMDb message boards for Avatar some time ago, since Avatar was another film with Sam Worthngton. I remember it looking pretty interesting, however I'd not heard about it for some time after due to the delays. However during July, it had gotten advertised more, and I was ready to mark down August 31st as a "must see" date. However when I got a pass in an Alliance Films giveaway, I was excited.

And thankfully this movie did not disappoint. The movie comes out next week, I'd say go see it.

A remake of the 2007 Israeli flick of the same name, which I'll admit to having not seen, The Debt follows two of three secret agents who went on a mission to capture the surgeon of Birkneau, and bring him to Israel to expose him for the crimes he committed against Jewish humanity during WWII. His horrifying experiments have left thousands dead in brutal and gory ways. The gang had a plan set in place, and according to a new book written about the ordeal, the mission was completed. However, something about the mission has come back to haunt them... And futhermore, that very some 30 years later, thing has the two remaining agents fearing for what happens next in life!

I don't want to give too much away, because believe me, the nervousness and suspense I felt throughout the movie is unmatched by any other film I saw this year. Believe me, this film is insanely well written. Matthew Vaughn of Kick-Ass and X-Men First Class fame wrote the script, and boy you can tell he did. His charm and genius are all over the film, in a different fashion than the two mentioned films, but his clever writing style is there. The dialogue is sharp and witty, the turn of events is clever. There's loads of suspense throughout the film. Seriously, not one scene had me feeling calm at all. The film was high octane, ferociously suspenseful thrill ride that had me on the edge of my seat from the first frame.

The film also has a great ability to surprise people, and believe me, this movie is filled to the brim with surprise and intrigue. The film's central twist is especially shocking. Believe me, the movie definitely toys with your expectations and perception of events in pretty much every way possible. But the central twist is especially a shocker, as it completely comes out of nowhere and strikes you blindly. At the screening, you could feel everyone tense up, and especially as the film reaches its shattering climax, the suspense just got more unbearable. However, there is some good Vaughn style humour thrown in there for good measure too.

The films' performances are fantastic. Helen Mirren shines as per usual as Rachel, and her young counterpart is not only very pretty but amazingly talented too. Jesper Christensen is amazingly scary as the villain, Vogel, and he does so without any gimmicks. But the real surprise is Sam Worthington as David. Believe me, he really, truly shines here. His portrayal is very convincing, and he manages to prove to the audience that he is not just a pretty face. As well as the film's direction is slick and sharp. madden has a fantastic eye for a shot, and it shows, there are a lot of moments of visual brilliance too, and some shots even look spooky at times.

In short, The Debt is the biggest surprise of the year, and a true shiner in a dark age for cinema nowadays. If you would like to watch a movie that for once isn't 3D, for once doesn't force feed you with gimmicks, don't pass up this full tilt action thrill ride. Although I saw it for free at a screening, I would have felt like my money was put to good use if I paid to see it too. Do not miss this film!

OVERALL: 10/10

Pros: The Debt is an action packed, unbearably suspenseful film that is remarkably well written, stylishly shot and ferociously thrilling, a film not to be missed.

Cons: None I can think of...

Director John Madden had a smashing back-to-back period in 1997-1998 with "Mrs. Brown" and "Shakespeare in Love", but since then he has been unable to replicate that level of success. "The Debt", a remake of a 2007 Israeli thriller of the same name, is his best film since that period, and deserves a wider audience than it is likely to find in theatres after more than a year spent in limbo due to the difficulties of its distributor. Madden and his cast and crew deliver a very solid adult-oriented Cold War thriller. Spoilers follow.

Our story takes place both in East Berlin in 1966 and Israel in 1997 (I would estimate the split to be perhaps 70/30 in the favour of 1966). It opens with a book launch celebrating the exploits of three Mossad agents in killing a Nazi war criminal: agents Rachel Singer (Helen Mirren), David Peretz (Ciaran Hinds) and Stephan Gold (Tom Wilkinson). We also see the mission in question, where the trio (played in 1966 by Jessica Chastain, Sam Worthington, and Martin Csokas) are tasked to abduct Dr. Dieter Vogel (Jesper Christensen), the 'surgeon of Birkenau', from East Germany. It's not a great spoiler to say that this proves to be more difficult than originally anticipated.

There are no Jason Bourne-style moves here: Madden's depiction of special operations is very realistic, similar to the writings of John le Carre. The atmosphere is well-handled, particularly the 1966 segments, which believably depict the decayed East Berlin. The film's 1966 segments are at their strongest as a character drama, in the middle/late stretch where the three spies and their captive are confined to an apartment and forced to interact for an extended period as their options slowly seem to shrink.

The main reason to see this film is Jessica Chastain, who may be the breakout star of 2011, with no less than seven features to be released due to a backlog. In the past having this many films in a year can be dangerous (consider what 2004 did to Jude Law), but what is remarkable about Chastain's work this year is how different each performance has been so far. She was an ethereal, idealized mother in "The Tree of Life", then a goodhearted white trash housewife in "The Help"; now, in her first (and, I believe, only) lead role of the year, she plays a rookie field agent with depth and intensity. She compares favourably to Helen Mirren's portrayal of the older Rachel. The other standouts are Worthington, at last given a mainstream role where he can show his dramatic skills rather than be bland in an action film; and Christensen, who has a lot of fun as the detestable villain.

Recommended.

The Debt (an American remake of a 2007 Israeli film of the same name) is best described as a story on two levels. On one level, it's a melodramatic espionage thriller that takes places in the 1960's, while on the other, it's a mystery that unfolds thirty years later, one that is centered around the events of the original espionage mission. The film cuts back and forth between these two story lines, with a different trio of actors portraying the three main characters in each story line.

In 1966, a trio of Israeli Mossad agents - Rachel Singer (Jessica Chastain), David Peretz (Sam Worthington) and Stefan Gold (Marton Csokas) - are sent behind the Iron Curtain in East Berlin to kidnap an escaped Nazi war criminal, Dieter Vogel (Jesper Christiansen), the infamous "Surgeon of Birkenau". The mission goes awry when, after successfully capturing Vogel, the plan to smuggle him out of East Berlin is disrupted and they are forced to go into hiding while they try to make other arrangements. It is while he is being held prisoner that Vogel overpowers Rachel and almost escapes, leaving her face grievously scarred in the process. But Rachel manages to shoot Vogel before he gets away, killing him, and the trio return to Israel as heroes and their mission becomes a Mossad legend. Later, Rachel and Stefan marry, for reasons that are quite frankly never made clear and end up having a daughter, and David decides to leave.

But in the current day (1997) story line, things are more complicated. Rachel (Helen Mirren) is being honored at a publication party for her daughter Sarah (Romi Aboulafia) who has written a book about her parents' legendary mission. Already visibly uncomfortable when asked to read a key passage from the book, Rachel becomes even more displeased when Stefan (Tom Wilkinson), now in a wheelchair and from whom she is completely estranged, shows up at the party, a situation clearly set up by Sarah who had told her mother than he wouldn't be there. At the same time, David (Ciaran Hinds) has also resurfaced, clearly troubled. And we begin to learn that there are cracks in the legend, and ultimately, that the legend is nothing but a self-serving lie that all three have lived with for the last thirty years.

I will acknowledge that my reaction to The Debt is in the minority as it was garnered a fair amount of critical praise, but that said, I found myself ultimately disappointed. I cannot fault the performances of the stellar cast, nor can I really fault the director, John Madden, beyond the pacing problem. I would probably lay the blame for my overall reaction with the script (the one done for the remake) which was written by Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman. I have not seen the original Israeli film on which it was based, but in reading the plot summary it appears that some substantial changes were made for this version and that, from what some reviewers say, the original was better. But that aside, for me the problem with The Debt lies in the fact that it requires some considerable suspensions of disbelief, and that, quite frankly, most of the characters are not particularly likeable or sympathetic. Stefan is a manipulative, self-centered ladder-climber whose only concerns are his ambitions and his career. And both Rachel and David are easily manipulated, in addition to forever vacillating in their feelings towards each other, towards Stefan, and inexplicably at times, towards Vogel. And in their older selves, they have not grown wiser so much as simply worse.

The pacing in the beginning is also something of a problem and I actually found myself falling asleep before things finally picked up with the abduction of Vogel. But even when things did pick up, I found myself not really liking it all that much. The characters were so flawed as individuals - and even more flawed as a team - it was difficult to accept the initial premise. I wouldn't have sent that crew around the corner to pick up a pack of gum, let alone behind the Iron Curtain to kidnap an escaped Nazi. And the fact that they weren't very sympathetic as individuals made the tepidly melodramatic love triangle subplot more tedious than anything else. I also found it difficult to believe that Vogel would've left Rachel alive before fleeing the apartment. Or that any competent intelligence officer would've simply accepted their story when they got back.

It also says something when the only halfway interesting scenes are the ones with the Nazi doctor, even when written as it is in the The Debt as something of a cliche. For that I'd have to credit the actor - Jesper Christensen - who manages to at least make his repellant doctor fascinating to watch - much like a particularly vicious caged rat - even if you've seen the basic character in countless movies before and the dialogue is just variations on the same old theme. That Christensen's Vogel, even with the clichés, was about the only thing in The Debt worth seeing, says a lot about the rest of the film. As does the fact that even having Vogel for contrast does not make the ostensible heroes particularly sympathetic.

Again, I recognize that my opinion is a minority one. If you read a review by someone you trust and they say see it, then go ahead. For myself though, I'd say The Debt is okay if you don't go in expecting much and if you can wade through the ramped-up self-inflicted angst the main characters wallow in for most of the movie.