Operation Finale

Director Chris Weitz softens the edges of this true Holocaust-related story, providing a familiar Hollywood thriller template that works without demeaning the events at the center. It's less grim than it could have been, making it (for better or worse) more palatable. Screenwriter Matthew Orton starts Operation Finale with an unrelated incident that establishes Malkin as an unorthodox rebel, making him appealing in a Humphrey Bogart-like way. There are montages of the team getting ready for their assignment and the introduction of the ex-girlfriend character to provide some playful male-female banter from time to time.

While the rest of the cast members are mainly placeholders, Isaac plays Malkin with a smoldering confidence, and he's hugely appealing. Kingsley has the more difficult role, playing a man who's definitely guilty and possibly a monster, but who's more complex than we might imagine. His scenes with Isaac have an electricity as they bash their heads together in an effort to come to some kind of truth. A few well-placed, well-framed flashbacks reveal the actual horrors of the Holocaust, underlining just what was done -- and what was lost. Yet Weitz doesn't try to get too artsy or too self-important. He brings the same popular sheen he gave to The Golden Compass and his entry in the Twilight series, while maintaining the proper respect and dignity that the material deserves.