Operation Mincemeat

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Ellen C 05/17/2022 Well written and superbly acted. Even though one may know the outcome, the suspense is enthralling. The two hours flew by. Excellent film and entertainment. See more Anne D 05/15/2022 Loved the dialogues, intrigue , suspense and dry humor . See more bob c Nov 1 It’s a 1940s movie without John Mills that has been colourised? See more Kalissa H @kali_416 Sep 13 I got bored during this. See more Sharang L @Scribe187 Aug 24 Allows the astounding true story to play out without much tinkering, and delivers a solid spy thriller in the process. See more James T Jul 24 Operation Mincemeat has vast potential as a love letter to one of the most interesting operations in counter-intelligence in history. This should have been one to add to the very best of WW2 films in The Battle of Britain, The Great Escape, etc. Unfortunately, through its own self-doubt, it squanders its own potential and (unlike the allied invasion of Sicily) snatches defeat from the jaws of victory. The acting line-up features tried and tested actors in Jason Isaacs, Colin Firth, Penelope Wilton and many more. These actors are so tried and tested, it's next to impossible to imagine anything less than required and, indeed, the collective performance is excellent. The acting talent is supported with top-grade costume and set design. Perhaps there might be a slight issue with the colour palette, which makes a selection of scenes look washed out and sanitised, but that aside the filming allows the cast to thoroughly show off their acting chops. Unfortunately, the script just doesn't support all the great work they did. Firstly, and it's a minor niggle, the Ian Fleming problem. The script takes a delight in Ian Fleming's involvement in the operation and thinks it can sell itself by showing off the Bond connection. This means that Fleming is inserted into far too many scenes for a junior officer who never actually seems to do anything of substance. More irritatingly, someone on the cast generally announces him in each of his scenes as if he were some sort of royalty. He also gets a cringeworthy "spy story" line at the end of the film which had my toes curling. The only way the script could be less subtle about Fleming would be to put up an announcement saying "IAN FLEMING - YES, THE BOND WRITER" on screen during every appearance, and perhaps that would break the immersion less. Most importantly, the writers have gone away from the original Ben Macintyre source material. It shows, because these scenes stick out like a dead body floating along the Spanish coast, and are really badly written. For example, there's a tedious episode where Glyndwr Michael's sister turns up, leading to a drawn-out and needless exposition about what they're doing with the body. It is very disrespectful; according to the eponymous Macintyre book, Michael's family never looked for him after he died. Furthermore, it strains credulity as a grieving relative would not be diverted to the leaders of a secret operation, and an aide would not burst in during a conversation with an obvious 3rd party to announce Churchill had given his approval for the operation. It is horribly bad writing. The film does this over and over again. There's a love triangle which kills the film's momentum stone dead, and there's a confusing and garbled insertion of a German double agent into the storyline around the end of the film. It's such a shame. So much potential is squandered, given over to fiction which is tedious at its best. In summary, this film is a passable piece of entertainment. The great pity is that by having faith in its viewers and sticking to its own message, it could have been so much more. See more Read all reviews

Operation Mincemeat

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