“The Debt” and its characters are torn between the values of romance and honesty. The story behind the former is a surprisingly convincing love triangle, and the details behind the latter are a generic, if not silly, conspiracy thriller.
Three Israeli agents in 1965 are tasked with apprehending a formerly sadistic Nazi doctor, and in 1997, one agent’s suicide reveals the specifics of their successful mission are not what they seem.
We know this because in the future we are first introduced to Helen Mirren as Rachel Singer. Mirren has a wonderful way of revealing both apprehension and regality simultaneously. She and her ex-husband Stephan (Tom Wilkinson) share a few private words in between their daughter’s book tour documenting their heroic endeavors. It turns out that their fellow agent, David Peretz (Ciaran Hinds), has just committed suicide, and a now disabled Stephan requires Rachel to go back into the field one last time.
The plot demands the older versions of the characters maintain a troubling secret, but this truth is not all that life shattering. To me, it would seem as though the truth would merely be an embarrassment and a slight slap in justice’s face, but little else.
More interesting is the sexual tension between the younger incarnations of these characters, played by Jessica Chastain (from “The Tree of Life.” She’s really the lead here), Sam Worthington and Marton Csokas. The three performers all have a wonderful chemistry. As they remain locked in the room later in the film, the trio spars and engages with one another to convincingly build in suspense despite all odds of melodrama.
In addition, director John Madden (“Shakespeare in Love”) includes some riveting and intensely directed action sequences, all shown to us with a vivid, firm hand behind the camera.
Some of the film’s highlights come from the truly chilling Nazi doctor, the Surgeon of Birkenau (Jesper Christensen). He and Chastain are terrific together, first with her in stirrups as he examines her in the doctor’s office, and second when he reveals a bombshell of what he’s capable of.
The promise of these early scenes is wasted on the increasingly wacky plot in modern day, the culmination of which is a closing fight scene that is by all means absurd.
But “The Debt” is a fairly chilling film with a clever hint of romance. It’s something of a surprise.
3 stars