Operation Mincemeat movie review

MOVIE TITLE: Operation Mincemeat

This dramatic telling of a WWII story premieres on Netflix in the USA on May 11, 2022

RATING: PG-13

LENGTH: 2 hours 8 minutes

IN A NUTSHELL:

Warner Brothers Pictures provided this intriguing synopsis of the story: Hoping to change the course of World War II, and save tens of thousands of lives, two intelligence offers plot to break Hitler’s deadly grip on Europe by recruiting the most likely of secret agents: a dead man.

It’s 1943, The Allies are determined to break Hitler’s grip on occupied Europe, and plan an all-out assault on Sicily, but they face an impossible challenge – how to protect a massive invasion force from potential massacre. Operation Mincemeat is the extraordinary and true story of an idea that hoped to alter the course of the war – defying logic, risking countless thousands of lives, and testing the nerves of its creators to breaking point.

THINGS I LIKED:

The espionage movie is based on the book of the same name by best-selling author Ben Macintyre. About the movie, he stated, “Operation Mincemeat was probably the most successful military deception operation ever carried out. What the deceivers had to do was to try to persuade the Germans that black was white and white was black. And they did this in the most extraordinary way. It now sounds like it comes straight out of fiction, which is exactly where it came from.” Ben Macintyre is referring to another book called
Director John Madden was fascinated with this true tale. He stated, “It is a completely wild story, so precarious and so unlikely and so whacked out in every possible sense. Speaking as a filmmaker, that is what’s irresistible about it.” He gives us a very respectful telling.
The cast is fantastic and includes Colin Firth, Jason Isaacs, Johnny Flynn, Penelope Wilton, Kelly Macdonald, Mark Gatiss, Mathew Macfadyen, and Alex Jennings.
Despite the serious wartime circumstances, there is quite a lot of clever humor.
Beautiful camera work.
The identity of the dead man was not revealed until 1998!
There are actually a few James Bond references, such as a spy boss being referred to as “M”, a “Q-Branch” gadgets, and a listing of “Moneypenny” in the final rolling credits. Actor Johnny Flynn plays Ian Fleming in the film, the author of the James Bond stories.
Twists. I love twists.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

The title sounds like it’s for a horror movie, right? Ick.
Like the British stiff upper lip, the story is told in a very straightforward way.
This remake includes sub-plots that are, apparently, not actually true.
We didn’t need to know about the intimate proclivities of certain people.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Kids will be bored.
You see a dead body in various conditions.
A man uses his hands to pleasure others. We see facial expressions only for a brief moment.
Some profanity, including 2 F-bombs.

THEMES:

World War II
Fiction vs. Reality
Truth
Hope
Instinct
Family
Sacrifice
Teamwork
Trust vs. deceit & betrayal

INTERESTING LINES:

“A real life need not be a romantic one.” – Ewen Montagu (Colin Firth)
“The fate of the Free World dependent on a corpse and a donkey cart.” – Charles Cholmondeley (Matthew Macfadyen)
“I may vomit. – Charles Cholmondeley (Matthew Macfadyen) “I may vomit with you.” – Ewen Montagu (Colin Firth)