Greenbelters Review ‘The Debt’

Welcome Patch's Tugwell Theatre Group, where local movie buffs share their thoughts about films at the Old Greenbelt Theatre. With four pops of popcorn being the best rating a movie can grab, find out how popcorn-worthy your neighbors deem this week's show.

The Debt has been held over and is scheduled to play in the Old Greenbelt Theatre through Thursday, Sept. 22.

SHEILA MAFFAY-TUTHILL
Three pops: ☼☼☼

…fast paced and moody, with an international setting. It jumps back and forth in time and does it without major confusion to the audience—another big plus. 

ANNA SOCRATES
Three and a half pops: ☼☼☼ + 1/2

The Debt is everything a political thriller should be: taut, suspenseful and superbly acted.

KONRAD HERLING
Three and a half pops: ☼☼☼ + 1/2

The Debt trio has as its goal to capture a former Nazi doctor and have him tried in Israel. However, their plans go awry — and how they deal with their failure becomes the crisis, a crisis which comes back to haunt them 30 years into the future.

Read full reviews below.

SHEILA MAFFAY-TUTHILL’S REVIEW

This movie felt a lot like one those smart political thrillers from the 70s—fast paced and moody, with an international setting. It jumps back and forth in time and does it without major confusion to the audience—another big plus. 

The Debt is the story of a beautiful young Mossad agent assigned to a team charged with capturing an infamous Nazi war criminal in order to bring him to trial in Israel. She and her two male teammates, create a love triangle while the three live, train and eventually hold captive their target. We get to see the story unfold back in the 60s as well as its repercussions in the present.

It was a little violent for me, but I often feel that, and it shouldn't deter most viewers from this worthwhile film.

 ANNA SOCRATES’ REVIEW

The Debt is everything a political thriller should be: taut, suspenseful and superbly acted, especially by newcomer Jessica Chastain and the always phenomenal Helen Mirren.

The film channels classics like Z, Marathon Man, and The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, and it perfectly captures a brooding, desolate Soviet-era East Berlin—circa 1966. The seediest safe house in the city even assumes the status of a fifth character. But the film lacked historical context: an Israeli mission to capture and try an ex-Nazi that doesn’t even reference the historically significant Adolf Eichmann trial!

The situation also seemed improbable: how did three agents as amateurish and curiously unresourceful as this trio make it through a Mossad training course? They didn’t know not to use each other’s given names in front of a hostage to avoid bonding? Though let’s not quibble—the term “reverse Stockholm Syndrome” didn’t emerge until the 1990s. As for the ex-Nazi—a late middle-aged doctor—he seemed to possess superhuman strength. What were they feeding him?

All this nitpickery aside, the film raises interesting moral questions about truth and political expediency, the acting was first rate, and I was on the edge of my seat. I’d give this 3.5 pops of popcorn, and know that your snacks will undoubtedly taste better than the dreary mashed peas the agents seemed to endlessly consume.

KONRAD HERLING'S REVIEW

The Debt had all the elements of a good thriller, but I have to admit the approach the passionate trio uses to capture their nemesis prompted me to recall television series such as “Mission Impossible” and even “The Mod Squad.” 

Those heroes of the small screen were often trying to discredit and bring to justice corrupt drug dealers, while the The Debt trio has as its goal to capture a former Nazi doctor and have him tried in Israel. However, their plans go awry — and how they deal with their failure becomes the crisis, a crisis which comes back to haunt them 30 years into the future.

The Debt and Incendies and Sarah’s Key, films that have recently shown at the Old Greenbelt Theater, share a common thread based on moving deftly between the current and the past.  The Debt moves back and forth from the capture of the doctor in 1965 to 2009, when the truth from the past catches up with the trio 44 years later.  

One has to see this interesting film to see how this plays out.  It’s not a great film, but it will hold your interest.