Movie: The Debt

I really don't know what I'm going to do with this blog, so I'll start with something that I've tried in the past: putting down thoughts on the movies I see. I tried using the Flixster app on Facebook for this a few years ago - in fact I managed to write a review of every film I saw in theatres for quite a long time. But the arrival of a certain someone in my life really slowed down my moviegoing habits and then we had two certain someones and I know that's just not going to happen. So most of these movie posts are going to be about the movies I saw over the Christmas break. It was a bumper crop this year: The Debt, Submarine, Margin Call, The Trip, Midnight in Paris and Crazy Stupid Love.

(If people blathering on about movies isn't your thing, don't worry, I've got other things in mind for this space.)

Does this woman look like she could
take down a guy in a fight?
(from Helen Mirren News on Flickr)

A lot of times I will watch a movie and think "the idea for this story is fantastic but they are really screwing it up." I can't quite put my finger on why I thought The Debt was misplayed. The underlying story is actually pretty powerful stuff: regret, revisionist personal histories, retribution. And the performances are pretty good, too. But something was missing and I can't put my finger on it.

Maybe it's that there's just too much going on. There's a love story subplot (more on that in a second) that seems almost like an afterthought, not to mention the stretching a little too far of credulity with an action sequence featuring Helen Mirren. She's a great actor but she's no spring chicken.

And can I just make one really catty remark with regards to a plot point that I'd say is probably a spoiler? Let's put it after the break just in case you don't want to know.

It's a good thing the female Israeli agent is holed up in an apartment with just two men because she seemed like she was ready to sleep with three or four more. What does this have to do with anything? Other than giving one of the main characters a reason to show up years later - oops, wait. The whole point of the movie covers off on that plot point. Nope. I got nothing.

So there you have it: this movie struck me as overloaded with useless baggage. Which is too bad, because some of the material was pretty promising.