Operation Mincemeat movie review: Colin Firth leads the cream of British acting in old-fashioned spy drama

Operation Mincemeat might very simply operate as a kind of sequel to Munich – The Fringe of Warfare—an nearly unbearably suspenseful drama about efforts to cease Adolf Hitler from coming into energy—very like how The Put up is actually a prequel to All of the President’s Males. Actually, add Valkyrie to the combo and also you’d get your self a pleasant little trilogy.

Unfolding basically because the WW 2 model of Argo, the movie tracks a bunch of middle-aged white bureaucrats as they hatch an bold plan to divert Nazi Germany’s consideration from the seashores of Sicily—a location of strategic significance to the Allied forces—and make them consider that they need to, as a substitute, be specializing in Greece. Taking up Sicily, which was being defended dearly by the Nazis, would give the Allies a greater probability at transferring inland.

However first, they’d must throw the Germans off the scent. And with Prime Minister Winston Churchill underneath stress to ship on a promise that he made to President Franklin D Roosevelt, a crack group led by Colin Firth’s Ewen Montagu places into movement Operation Mincemeat, nearly as a final resort.

The operation was named after the central conceit: Dressing a random man’s lifeless physique to seem like a drowned British soldier, who simply occurred to have on his particular person vital paperwork that may, ultimately, should be found by Nazi higher-ups. Typically, it’s a good suggestion to have a personality succinctly summarise the plot for the viewers’s comfort. Matthew Macfadyen’s Charles Cholmondeley does the honours right here, when he scoffs, “The destiny of the free world depending on a corpse in a donkey cart?”

Ewen and Charles have been joined of their mission by the feisty Jean Leslie, performed by Kelly Macdonald, who is unfortunately saddled with a pointless romantic subplot that the film might have finished away with. Though then, the characters would have been even thinner than they’re now. Penelope Wilton, Jason Isaacs, Mark Gatiss and Simon Russell Beale present up in supporting roles. The narration, in the meantime, is offered by none aside from Ian Fleming, who, after all, served as an intelligence officer earlier than creating maybe probably the most well-known fictional undercover agent in historical past. He’s performed by the dashing Johnny Flynn, and the only purpose for his inclusion within the film is to offer director John Madden an excuse to incorporate cute James Bond references. Like how Fleming addresses one in all his superiors as M, a lot to the amusement of his friends.

Operation Mincemeat isn’t in any respect just like the Bond films, although. It’s considerably extra old school in its method to spy craft, which is all the time a welcome change from the extra action-packed espionage movies that we have a tendency to observe. Madden already had one in all these underneath his belt—The Debt, an underseen 2010 movie a couple of Mossad agent performed by each Helen Mirren and Jessica Chastain.

He’s a kind of journeyman administrators who can all the time be counted on to make (largely) strong movies, whatever the style. Contemplate a few of his previous work: the Oscar-winning Shakespeare in Love, The Greatest Unique Marigold Resort and its equally heat sequel, and Nicolas Cage’s good-looking dud Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. You couldn’t discover connective tissue between them even if you happen to tried, except for the truth that all of his films are geared at an older viewers. The youngsters can have their 007s and their Ethan Hunts; however for others, the sight of Colin Firth ready intently for a telegram might be simply as satisfying as a death-defying stunt.

Operation Mincemeat
Director – John Madden
Solid – Colin Firth, Matthew Macfadyen, Kelly Macdonald, Jason Isaacs, Johnny Flynn
Score – 3.5/5