14 Days of Free Film Challenge - Day Five, The Debt

Following yesterday's disaster that was the Tree of Life, when I saw Jessica Chastain was in The Debt (which I'd been recommended), I seriously considered the sanity of my choice. However, she did redeem herself.

I'm pleased to say the Debt was about ten times better than the Tree of Life - for a start there was a coherent narrative! It's the story of three Israeli special agents who are tasked with finding and capturing a Nazi concentration camp surgeon. The story moves between the younger group (Chastain, Sam Worthington and Marton Csokas) when they are on their mission and the older group in 1997 (Helen Mirren, Tom Wilkinson and Ciaran Hinds), when they hear the surgeon has resurfaced. It's set to the backdrop of Mirren's daughter releasing a book about the group's mission, which adds to the tension when it turns out the surgeon might not be as dead as everyone thought.

The casting may seem a bit random, but it worked. Chastain, thank goodness, is brave and agile, if slightly naive and Worthington's vulnerability is touching. Mirren is convincing as the older Rachel and shows she's still got what it takes to make a film thrilling.

There's quite a lot of action and fighting in this film, but the story and the history behind it is really interesting and engrossing, so it's good for fans of action films but also films that require more thought. There's a romantic sub-plot too, so it pretty much has all bases covered.

The Debt was a relief after the ordeal of Tree of Life and really held my interest. The acting was convincing and the film was absorbing, if slightly disturbing in a couple of scenes. It's definitely something I would like to see again, but the first time will always be the best with this film because of the tension created by wanting to know how the story will unfold.