Operation Finale

Sometimes it is not just about finding someone, or just catching them. It is about how to handle the whole situation. And with "war criminals" from the past, some may even argue: is it worth the time and money to catch and old man? What will it bring/achieve overall? Then again, shouldn't they still be held accountable? There are many moral questions attached to this, though the fact that you still have right wingers going crazy and trying to blame foreigners (Jews in this particular instance) is abhorrent.

Having said all that, you have a great cast assembled here. Sir Ben Kingsley at the helm but many others "supporting" him. It is a tough subject matter especially because it is true. Maybe some things have been heightened (didn't read up on everything that went down), but overall this is quite draining and seems like a logical account of things. So while it may seem slow at times, the tension is still quite high.

1960. Israeli agents get a tip-off that Adolph Eichmann, the architect of Hitler's Final Solution, is living in Argentina. They assemble a team to extract him and bring him to Israel to stand trial as a mass murderer.

Interesting true story. Shows how the Mossad investigated the possibility that Eichmann was living in Argentina, how they positively identified him and the planning and execution of getting him to Israel. While you know the result, if you know history, it still makes for very intriguing watching. This is especially as there was a large amount of danger involved in the operation - there was a large element of Nazis and Nazi sympathisers living in Argentina and they had significant influence over the government.

The historic element makes this quite edifying viewing too.

Great work by Ben Kingsley as Eichmann. Oscar Isaac puts in a solid performance as Peter Malkin, senior Mossad agent.

It's 1960 Buenos Aires, Argentina. Teenager Sylvia Hermann falls for Klaus Eichmann. He tells her that he is raised by his uncle after his SS father was killed. Unbeknownst to them, her father is secretly a German Jew. The uncle is suspected to be Adolph Eichmann (Ben Kingsley), the architect of the Holocaust. When it's reported back to the Mossad, Rafi Eitan (Nick Kroll) insists on pursuing the fugitive despite reservations. Peter Malkin (Oscar Isaac) is a team leader. Hanna Elian (Mélanie Laurent) is the doctor. It's a daring operation to kidnap the Nazi and transport him to Israel for trial.

At first, I expected a caper movie. I expected laying out the scheme and overcoming some unexpected hurdles. For the first half, that's the movie and it's not that new. The Argentinian Nazi gathering is very creepy and there is an interesting history lesson. It's pretty good and then it turns into something better at the safe house. It becomes a psychological chess match and that's the more interesting battle. It's a simple good cop, bad cop situation but Ben Kingsley heightens it with his excellence. He's a master of acting. This reminds me a bit of Munich but this is superior.

"The banality of evil" ... Hannah Arendt The abduction of Adolph Eichmann in May 1960 Argentina is the stuff of thrillers, in the spirit of true-inspired films like Munich and Inglorious Basterds. What makes Operation Finale unique and watchable is the acting of Oscar Isaac as the primary captor, Peter Malkin, and Ben Kingsley as "the architect of the Holocaust." When the two are together, the screen heats up with truth and passion in a muted, underplayed power.

In an expert summer thriller directed by Chris Weitz and written by Matthew Orton, Isaac portrays a Nazi hunter along with Mossad operatives charged to perform the abduction; he carries a burden of memory for his sister lost with millions of other captured Jews. His portrayal is humane, sympathetic, and vengeful. Kingsley portrays a charming monster capable of civility and reason as he spars with Isaac about responsibility when like so many other Nazis he claims to have been taking orders.

Kingsley's Eichmann has minor mannerisms revealing a fastidious killer who can evidence love for his family although he eliminated millions with the nod of his head. His joke about Goebbels, Goring, and Hitler humanizes him, no doubt to the chagrin to more than a few in the audience.

Ever controlled, he converses with Peter as a caring neighbor might under better circumstances. Kingsley exudes the confidence and malignity necessary to be the architect.

Although I suspect the barely escaping plane at the end is as contrived as the airport race at the end of Munich, the heart of this true story is the dilemma all principals face when bringing justice to a wretch who deserves a bullet between the eyes before the long trial begins. Peter struggles with that demon as anyone would do.

Operation Finale, perhaps too seriously traditional, is another of the docudramas that draw us in even as we know the outcome. That's entertaining story telling about grim history. "The Holocaust was the most evil crime ever committed." Stephen Ambrose

Films about Nazis always freak me out, even ones like this where there's a layer of cinematic tint. Dramatic set pieces, overly acted dialogue, rousing score. It feels wrong to dress up Nazi atrocities. Yet despite its heist movie aesthetic, this is worth watching, Oscar Isaac is good, in his Golden Age of Hollywood way. Ben Kingsley though, has played some terrifying characters, but is portrayal of Adolf Eichmann is, well it's disarming. There are much better films that cover this subject, but I'll never decry any that highlights what happened during the Holocaust, the aftermath and present day deniers and anti-semites. Films like this have their place, many people struggle with the realities of what happened and if this makes the truth more accessible, then so be it.