I was lucky enough to catch Operation Finale on the Wednesday before its opening weekend and it left such an impact; I hope to see it again before the weekend is over. The film depicts the true story of the apprehension of the Nazi Adolf Eichmann, who escaped Germany and was hiding in Argentina after the WWII. The film blends elements of a heist-film, a spy thriller, and a historical drama to great effect. It is the chemistry between the movie’s leads that really put it over the top.
Oscar Isaac, of Ex Machina and Star Wars Episode VII & VIII, plays Peter Malkin, the Mossad agent who takes the lead of capture of Herr Eichmann. Oscar Isaac takes us through a gambit of conflicting feelings within his character and goes toe-to-toe with Ben Kingsley in a game of wits and feelings. Kingsley is able to give Adolf Eichmann a semblance of humanity, only to be bone-chilling and monstrous in other scenes. I say Ben Kinsley is a lock for a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the Oscars and could even take it home. I’d think that other films, with a strong supporting actor performance, that are set to come out at the end of the year, might consider pushing their film’s release until next year to avoid the competition.
Now the film does depict scenes from the Holocaust which are unnerving to say the least, but the overall film gets a full 5/5.