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Film review

'Munich' speaks softly, carries small stick

Steven Spielberg's movie about the bloody aftermath of the 1972 Olympic slayings wants to be powerful, but is overly subtle and underacted.

By STEVE PERSALL
Published December 22, 2005

[Universal Studios]

Avner (Eric Bana), right, leads the team of assassins, including bombmaker Robert (Mathieu Kassovitz), left, in Munich.

Steven Spielberg stretched himself thin in 2005, trying to duplicate his 1993 parlay of artful history and popcorn populism with Schindler's List and Jurassic Park. We know audiences didn't embrace War of the Worlds as much as expected, and they won't admire Munich as much as they hoped.

Both films seem curiously undercooked, a distinct possibility given the technology required for one and thoughtfulness for the other. We see elements of greatness in both that aren't fulfilled, more so in Munich but still not satisfying. Spielberg may be the only American filmmaker who disappoints by making merely a good movie.

Munich is a good movie, good enough that Spielberg's reputation makes it a player in the awards season. The theme of Middle East conflict is relevant, its execution has an air of importance, and the starting point of victimized Jews promises the sad, sublime drama of Schindler's List. However, Munich is a slow-footed political thriller, talkative without much meaty dialogue and almost timid, at least too subtle, about where it stands.

The movie begins with history we know: The 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Munich were marred when Arab terrorists kidnapped 11 Israeli athletes, all murdered or killed during a failed rescue attempt. Spielberg uses television footage and gritty re-enactments to establish a ruthless tone.

Israel's response to the terrorism is set forth by prime minister Golda Meir (Lynn Cohen): a team of assassins will be unofficially hired to kill the men responsible for the Munich slayings. "Every civilization finds it necessary to negotiate compromises with its own values," she tells her staff before moving outside the circle to maintain plausible denial.

The enigmatic Ephraim (Geoffrey Rush) is assigned to coordinate the project, with a young government agent and bodyguard named Avner (Eric Bana) leading the assassins. The crew isn't imposing: Steve (Daniel Craig) is the toughest, Carl (Ciaran Hinds) looks like a businessman, Robert (Mathieu Kassovitz) is a nervous bombmaker, and Hans (Hanns Zischler) is a forger. Their normalcy takes some of the edge off their actions.

Avner is most ordinary of all, perhaps the least compelling figure Spielberg has ever placed at center stage of a film. Bana underplays the character to a fault, expecting Avner's status as a loving husband and father to create enough empathy. When the screenplay gives him moral conflicts and guilt, Bana doesn't sell the ideas enough. When Avner kills, the same impassive nature isn't frightening.

Spielberg does stage impressive assassination sequences, the tension heightened by the crew's orders to avoid killing bystanders and their own inexperience with such matters. One target's daughter is unexpectedly at home, creating a burst of Hitchcockian inspiration. Robert uses too many explosives for another hit, a grisly mistake with grim collateral damage. The killers become targets themselves, leading to a scene of retribution that's shocking in its understatement.

Such scenes confirm Spielberg's gift for staging action. It's his approach to moral and political issues that regularly stop Munich in its tracks. Everyone has a chance to express their misgivings and be lectured by someone else. Avner's source for locating the targets, a stylish father-son team of French mercenaries, is acted and written smartly, but the film's pacing dilutes their conniving ways.

The movie collapses in the final reel, when Avner returns to his family and Bana can't convey his guilt or paranoia about his family's protection. It's a terrible mistake for Spielberg to complete the Munich tragedy in a graphic flashback Avner has during sex. That tasteless choice may seem like a good way to show how deeply the memory haunts Avner, but it cheapens the memories of those dead Israelis.

Munich doesn't delve much into the lingering debate of whether Israel's violent response was justified, or even if they tabbed the right people for execution. Spielberg simply believes terrorism and vengeance were pointless then, and by extension are now. The same message came across leaner in Paradise Now, more resonant than Spielberg's war of the words.

- Steve Persall can be reached at 727 893-8365 or persall@sptimes.com

Grade: B

Director: Steven Spielberg

Cast: Eric Bana, Daniel Craig, Geoffrey Rush, Ciaran Hinds, Michael Lonsdale, Lynn Cohen, Hanns Zischler, Mathieu Amalric, Mathieu Kassovitz

Screenplay: Tony Kushner, based on the book Vengeance by George Jonas

Rating: R; strong violence, profanity, mature themes

Running time: 164 min.

[Last modified December 21, 2005, 10:49:05]