OPERATION FINALE Review

In 1956, Sylvia Hermann introduced her (then) boyfriend to her blind father, Lothar. During this encounter, her father recognized Klaus’s last name, and began to inquire about his family heritage. After some investigating, it was discovered that Klaus’s father, “Ricardo Klement” was actually Adolf Eichmann, one of the founding leaders behind the Nazi’s “final solution”.

Now, 62 years later, a new film was been released based on the true story of the Mossad agent’s capture of Eichmann, headed by Peter Malkin (Oscar Isaac), a Jewish intelligence agent who had a personal grudge against him. And similar to other “based on a true story” films, this film takes liberties with it’s depictions and story structure.

This isn’t to say it’s a particularly bad film, on the contrary I found it extremely powerful, especially with it’s haunting ending, but it isn’t memorable or unique in anyway. The characters and their complex relationships are particularly interesting, but the rest of the film feels particularly bland.

Eichmann (Ben Kingsley’s) relationship with Malkin is a particularly interesting situation, especially in the context of the film’s story. All of the interactions between them are stellar, and help elevate the half-cocked plot to a more interesting level. Their semi-friend like conversations make for a interesting arc, especially for Malkin and his intentional prying during their conversations.

The film also has a pretty great message, that is especially relevant in our day and age. Throughout its runtime it truly shows how hatred and bigotry have no place in any society.

But even though it’s intentions are good, it becomes muddled towards the second act. There are constant jump cuts, and more particularly one whole story beat that is used during the first half that isn’t even completed in the end of the film.

Overall, Operation Finale (2018) is a intriguing film for history buffs, but it doesn’t do or say anything that will set it apart from the thousands of other films in its realm.

Final Score: 6 out of 10.

Operation Finale • Run time 2:02 • Rated PG-13 - for disturbing thematic content and related violent images, and for some language