World War II is a fascinating period in history, and
Hollywood is determined to make sure the public never forgets that through
various stories of war and survival. However, the time after the war, the
fallout of the atrocities committed has remained relatively untouched. With Operation
Finale, audiences are able to see the man responsible brought to justice in
a mission that is almost as compelling as the conflict itself.
Fifteen years after the end of World War II, a team of
top-secret Israeli agents travels to Argentina to track down Adolf Eichmann
(Ben Kingsley), the Nazi officer who masterminded the transportation logistics
that brought millions of innocent Jews to their deaths in concentration camps.
Hoping to sneak him out of the country to stand trial, agent Peter Malkin
(Oscar Isaac) soon finds himself playing a deadly game of cat and mouse with
the notorious war criminal.
It goes without saying, as many would assume anyway, that
Kingsley and Isaac are the strengths of the film. Both men bring their
remarkable talents to their respective roles. Kingsley has proven his range in
the past, but his ability to mask the sinister nature of Eichmann just below
the surface is noteworthy. On the other side, Oscar Isaac continues to add to
his resume of middling historical films where his performance is stronger than
the material. Isaac portrays Malkin as someone clearly in pain at the mere
presence of a man with some responsibility for his sister’s death, but puts the
mission above all else.
Beyond the two leads stepping up to the plate, everything
else in Operation Finale
is incredibly disjointed. Various and seemingly
insignificant subplots are introduced and then left behind, the supporting
members go back and forth on their various levels of importance to the mission,
and the tension never quite lands the way the filmmakers likely intended. There
are plenty of obstacles in the way of an already complicated mission to warrant
the two-hour runtime, but something is missing that would truly make this a
memorable film.
Operation Finale is not a bad film. In fact, premiere
it on the History Channel on a Sunday evening and people might even praise it a
bit more. However, a cinematic release that lacks in tension and contains
numerous jumbled story elements, and this is a film that will come and go
without little mention until a high school social studies teacher decides to
use this in a lesson down the line.
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