Munich Review

HIGHS

• The variety that is found in Spielberg's body of work is really quite astounding. Even when you look at only the films he's put out this decade: A.I., Minority Report, Catch Me If You Can, The Terminal, War Of The Worlds and now Munich. All very different films that share few things in common, save evidence that Spielberg isn't afraid of trying new things. Mr. Shyamalan should take note of this.
• Eric Bana does a fantastic job of carrying the film on his capable shoulders. He really comes across as a credible leading man and I hope he continues to get projects in the future that allow him to show off his abilities (that would be films that aren't Troy or The Hulk).
• The feeling came across that the five men gathered for these assassinations where very much amateurs who were learning the ropes as they went. These were average guys from various walks of life who didn't 'inheret' the know-how for killing simply because they were given the task. This is refreshing, as credibility isn't always a high priority in a lot of films.
• There is a supremely intense scene in the film involving a young girl and a telephone (of which I won't go into detail for fear of spoiling it) that was brilliantly shot. Classic thriller schtick.
• You can cast Geoffrey Rush in anything and he'll hit it out of the park.

LOWS

• Munich took a fair amount of flack for it's portrayal of Palestinians but I would remind people that the film states at the beginning that Munich was "inspired by real events." How does that translate to being a representation of historical fact?

Torrey's Opinion:
5- Strongly Recommended
4- Recommended
3- A Mixed Bag
2- Sub-par
1- Don't Bother

Random related fact: After getting the rights to George Jonas's book Vengeance, Steven Spielberg commissioned three scripts: one from David Webb Peoples and Janet Peoples, one from Charles Randolph, and one from Eric Roth. Roth's script was chosen and subsequently revised by Tony Kushner.