Operation Finale, 2018.
Directed by Chris Weitz.
Starring Oscar Isaac, Ben Kingsley, Lior Raz, Melanie Laurent, Nick Kroll, Joe Alwyn, Haley Lu Richardson, Michael Aronov, Ohad Knoller, Greg Hill, Torben Liebrecht, Michael Benjamin Hernandez, Greta Scacchi, Peter Strauss, Antonia Desplat, Matt Lindquist, Rainer Reiners, Rocío Muñoz, Tatiana Rodriguez, Ezequiel Campa, Aylam Orian, and Pêpê Rapazote.
SYNOPSIS:
A team of secret agents set out to track down the Nazi officer who masterminded the Holocaust.
While Adolf Hitler and his closest confidants opted to commit suicide during the backend of World War II, SS Lieutenant Colonel Adolf Eichmann (given the nickname Architect of the Final Solution, having sent approximately 6 million Jews to an early grave) chose to flee and begin a new life under a new identity in Argentina. With that said, the question in Operation Finale becomes that, if you do gain reliable knowledge of this repulsive human being’s hidden whereabouts, even as a government body, do you enact revenge by way of murder or allow this harbinger of war atrocities the privilege to stand trial in a court of law?
Enter Peter Malkin (Oscar Isaac turning in yet another strong performance, this time conducting the tightrope balancing act of sticking to the mission and doing the morally right thing, and attempting to restrain himself from erupting in anger). The titular Operation Finale isn’t just another objective for Peter, it’s deeply personal as tormenting flashbacks to the savage murdering of his loved ones relay horrific images. Operating for the Mossad (the national intelligence agency of Israel), Peter’s former flame and medical practitioner is along for the mission; apparently, her skills are absolutely required or failure is certain. Fine, maybe these historical events actually happened that way, or maybe director Chris Weitz (About a Boy) and debut scriber Matthew Orton are simply dramatizing the narrative for added effect. Whichever the answer is, the shaky romance with Melanie Laurent’s (who, by the way, is always a welcome presence but getting shortchanged here) Hanna only detracts from the suspense of the operation, which all too frequently squashes momentum just as quickly as it is gained.
Before diving into the specifics of what works and what doesn’t reenacting the operation, attention should be drawn to another relationship subplot, this one between Hayley Lu Richardson’s Sylvia deep undercover spy trying to pinpoint the location of Adolf Eichmann by swooning over his son Klaus (Joe Alwyn). A Jew pretending to fall for a downright nasty literal post-World War II Nazi makes for an engaging dynamic that the film never capitalizes on, which is made all the more head-scratching during a somewhat brutal sequence meant to extract information from her. Not enough character definement has been built up to make this act of violence between the two mean anything substantial. It’s a shame because when Joe Alwyn is on-screen (both of the fantastic actors basically disappear throughout the middle of the movie, popping back up each briefly during the climax), there is the sensation that he is genuinely attracted to Sylvia before the, to him deal-breaking, revelation regarding her nationality. Operation Finale is perfectly fine containing some romance, but the focus is on the wrong relationship.
Anyway, speaking of snakes humanizing themselves, Ben Kingsley’s central performance as Adolf Eichmann is without question the film’s strongest aspect. Much like a far right-wing neo-Nazi, Adolf (without spoiling much, he receives numerous one-on-one dialogue scenes with Peter) uses the admirable love for family as a mask to hide his ugly beliefs and heinous actions under Hitler’s command. Somehow, Ben Kingsley is able to find humanity in this monster, and although the audience will obviously never buy into the garbage he spews, it’s almost depressing watching someone stick to their cruel convictions with such a calm rationality. Some of these scenes are admittedly in abundance and can occasionally go on a little too long without much of a purpose, but the challenge to present someone so evil as a loving family man who sincerely believed he was doing the right thing and simply following orders, no matter how harsh, is not easy to pull off convincingly, but roles like this are a pleasant reminder of Ben Kingsley’s legendary excellence as an actor.
The problem is that once the narrative locks itself into this position, the rest of the story and characters don’t have any suspenseful trajectory. Watching Peter internally struggle between wanting to choke the life out of Adolf and perform his duties (not only do they have to kidnap and extract the scumbag to an airport, Peter also has to bust his ass with mental head games for another, equally important, reason) resonates emotionally, but those scenes aren’t everything, and even so, a few of them are slightly boring. There are some nice supporting performances from notable names like Nick Kroll also on hand, but for an unfortunate amount of the running time, you kind of just want the team to speed the operation up, even when they can’t.
Nevertheless, Operation Finale still tells a fascinating tale of world history and manages to worm its way inside the uncomfortable headspace of pure evil. It definitely requires tighter focus and a little more excitement. It’s hurtful to say sometimes the factoids before and after the movie more compelling than the mission. More than about an extraction mission, this is about the measures post-WW2 disenfranchised types and intelligence agencies will go to find healing from unforgivable wrongdoings, and if peace of mind can ever be regained. In terms of character work, acting, and production design, what’s here is successful, but it will test your patience.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, friend me on Facebook, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, check out my personal non-Flickering Myth affiliated Patreon, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
