Mr. Movie review: ‘Operation Finale’ falls flat
I was born a news junkie. When I was 8, the favorite TV shows of my friends were “The Mickey Mouse Club,” “Howdy Doody,” “Captain Kangaroo” and cartoon shows featuring Warner Brothers characters.
My favorite show was Walter Cronkite’s hourly documentary series “The Twentieth Century.”
Yes, I was an odd kid.
Some news stories from my childhood stay with me still. I clearly remember a photo of Nazi war criminal and holocaust architect Adolph Eichmann in the Tri-City Herald in December of 1961. He had this rueful smile on his face after being found guilty of his crimes and sentenced to death.
I never forgot the photo.
“Operation Finale” is about how the Israelis captured Eichmann in Argentina in May of 1960. Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron in the latest Star Wars series, “Ex Machina”) stars as Peter Malkin, who is credited with being part of the team that kidnapped Eichmann and smuggled him out of Argentina.
Ben Kingsley plays a low-key Eichmann.
“Operation Finale” is written by first-time screenwriter Matthew Orton and is directed by “About a Boy” and “The Twilight Saga: New Moon’s” Chris Weitz. While grabbing someone a world away and whisking them off to justice was easier in 1960 than it would be today, the history of the capture of Eichmann is still fascinating.
It’s just not all that fascinating here.
Weitz’s film is molasses slow and lacks serious tension. Compare “Operation Finale” to the Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning “Argo.” Even though you know the outcome, the climax of the smuggling of Americans out of Iran during the 1979 hostage crisis is a nail-biter. You hold your breath and can barely breathe as the plane is on the runway in Tehran.
“Operation Finale” offers nothing close. It also didn’t offer much for the news and history junkie in me. I often say Ben Kingsley could play a lamppost and win awards. When his performance doesn’t move me, then it’s also a big disappointment to the movie critic in me.
Movie name: ‘Operation Finale’
Director: Chris Weitz
Stars: Oscar Isaac, Ben Kingsley, Melanie Laurent, Nick Kroll, Lior Raz, Greta Scacchi, Peter Strauss, Haley Lu Richardson, Joe Alwyn
Mr. Movie rating: 2 stars
Rated PG-13 for mature themes and some violence. It’s playing at the Fairchild Queensgate 12, the AMC Kennewick 12 and at Walla Walla Grand Cinemas.
5 stars to 4 1/2 stars: Must see on the big screen.
4 stars to 3 1/2 stars: Good film, see it if it’s your type of movie.
3 stars to 2 1/2 stars: Wait until it comes out on DVD.
2 stars to 1 star: Don’t bother.
0 stars: Speaks for itself.
This story was originally published August 30, 2018 at 1:58 PM with the headline "Mr. Movie review: ‘Operation Finale’ falls flat."