John Madden's new thriller, The Debt, is a remake of an Israeli movie of the same name made in 2007. It begins with three retired Mossad agents in Tel Aviv in 1997. It is long way from some of his earlier films like Shakespeare In Love and Captain Corelli's Mandolin, but has, perhaps, the twists and turns similar to the Inspector Morse episodes he directed back in the early 90s.
The movie is double cast with one trio of actors playing the lead characters in the 1990s and another set back in the 1960s and the action leaps backwards and forwards over the time periods.
Rachel (played by Helen Mirren/Jessica Chastain) and Stefan (Tom Wilkinson/Marton Csokas) hear news of their former colleague David (Ciarán Hinds/Sam Worthington). The three have been celebrated in Israel since they undertook a mission to capture a Nazi war criminal (the so-called "Surgeon of Berkenau") in East Berlin.
The Cold War, the Nazi's Final Solution and the Israeli Secret Service come face to face in this engrossing thriller with the trio of agents putting themselves into jeopardy before telling their story. But is everything what it seems?
It is superbly acted, particularly by Chastain and Worthington who, between them, steal the show, as well as being well scripted and filmed. It is a must-see movie for anyone who likes their thrillers thoughtful.
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