Based on its title, I expected director John Madden's new film The Debt to take the form of a searing study of the financial crisis faced by the United States. I anticipated interviews with controversial congressmen, and I anxiously awaited the on-screen arrivals of John Boehner, Nancy Pelosi, Michele Bachmann and the like. However, much to my surprise, Madden's film contains no talk of budget cuts, deficit spending or ceiling adjustments; instead, Madden's conception of debt is owed by those who breed death and destruction.
In the film, which takes place primarily in 1965, three covert Jewish agents attempt to exact such a debt from Dieter Vogel, a diabolical doctor who performed so-called 'surgeries' at the Birkenau death camp during the Holocaust. The agents endeavor to abduct Vogel and force him to stand trial in Israel, but the film takes a fascinating turn as the focus shifts from the capture and guardianship of Vogel to the weighty personal and professional decisions of the three main characters, who are portrayed both in their prime and their later years.
The conflicting motivations of the primary players result in repeated failures with regard to the vindictive mission at hand. While Rachel, played by Jessica Chastain and Helen Mirren, seeks to avenge her mother's death, colleagues David (Sam Worthington and Ciaran Hinds) and Stephan (Marton Csokas and Tom Wilkinson) seem concerned with broader issues of perceived justice and religious duty. Meanwhile, the two men create increased tension among the group as they compete for Rachel's romantic attention. Ultimately, the resulting web of romantic entanglements and mixed motivations leads to large-scale disaster.
As the film progresses forth from this point, it begins to pose bigger questions concerning the value of truth, the power of perception and the meaning of integrity. All three principal characters gain considerable complexity as their core values and principles come under fire. Although this turn toward character development slows down the plot and allows for predictable personal trajectories, it also provides a fresh shift from the claustrophobic intensity of the earlier scenes.
Sadly, this phase of exploration ends all too soon, and the film's final act offers up several scenes of heavy-handed moralizing. The rich characters molded in the prior section wither away as older actors step in with dull, one-dimensional portrayals of the formerly fascinating trio of crusaders. Unfortunately, since the film both begins and ends with these poor portrayals, the truly poignant characters only exist in the movie's middle section. Similarly, the marvelous moral ambiguity of the film's 1965 portion falls away almost completely when 1997 arrives near the end of the picture.\nAs the Rachel of 1997, Mirren gives one of the worst performances of her career. Everything about her portrayal, from her robotic attempt at an Eastern European accent to her phony weeping moments, came across as abominably bland. Conversely, as the younger Rachel, Chastain supplies outstanding depth and emotional force.
In fact, the success of The Debt as a film belongs largely to Chastain, who soars with a strong performance. Ultimately, Chastain's star and the film's profound explorations make The Debt a worthy thriller, albeit a ham-fisted one.
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