The Debt

Jessica Chastain and Sam Worthington

Saw this movie on Wednesday night.  It was a good story with terrific performances all the way down to the villain of the piece.  Jessica Chastain's Rachel was at the center of the movie and she was brilliant as the young Mossad agent who joins two strangers, well played by an appealing Sam Worthington and the talented Marton Csokas, in a plan to capture a Nazi war criminal, the infamous butcher of Birkenau, now living as a gynocologist  in East Berlin (wonderfully played by Jesper Christensen) and bring him back to Israel to stand trial.

The older versions of their characters, played respectively by Helen Mirren, Ciaran Hinds and Thomas Wilkinson were also excellent, but hard to imagine the younger actors aging to look like these stalwart veterans.  Like a few others, I agree this movie is more interesting when the younger generation is on the screen.

Helen Mirren

Both Chastain and and Mirren really carry this movie and it is good to see females get such tasty roles to play. Chastain has already shown promise in her turns in The Help and The Tree of Life and I see big things for this female thespian who can hold her own and more among the seasoned players.  She has a lovely, still quality that is very appealing and her acting is very believable in comparison to so many of her counterparts who are more about showing their beauty than their chops.  Sam Worthington is also starting to grow on me.  His quiet, restrained performance in most of this movie was a good match for Csokas more vociferous, piano playing leader.

I don't know how much play this movie will get with all the other fluff out there, but I found it a very  suspenseful, fast moving and wonderfully acted and directed piece of entertainment and look forward to seeing Jessica Chastain in Ralph Fiennes, directorial debut Coriolanus and Texas Killing Fields, where she again co-stars with Worthington.

1. Directed by John Madden. Starring Helen Mirren, Sam Worthington, Jessica Chastain, Marton Csokas, Tom Wilkinson, Jesper Christensen, and Ciaran Hinds.

   
   

It's been a busy week that started out with dinner on the rooftop at a Boutique Hotel in West Hollywood and some interesting company, including the attentions of the tennis pro.  Funny,  I seem to be attracting tennis players lately.

This weekend I'm hoping to catch The Guard, which was highly recommended by a friend.   Brandan Gleeson's performance alone,  which looks to be hilarious if the trailer is any indication, will be  worth the price of admission.   I'm also going to catch the Sunday matinee of "Iris" at the Kodak Theatre, followed by an early dinner at  Pizzeria Mozza.

Not a bad way to end the week or begin the new one.

Songs out of tune, the words always a little wrong...Canzoni Stonate