The philosophical mystery thriller The Debt questions whether the quest for truth should trump a nasty situation in which an expedient lie provided easy answers for the world but left lasting psychological repercussions for three people bound together by their actions.  It is a spy movie in which a trio of Mossad agents kidnaps and returns to Israel a Nazi war criminal twenty years after World War II.  To its credit, this film delves more deeply into personal and political ethics than most Hollywood films ever attempt.  John Madden’s movie explores why people change facts to suit their purposes and how, even years later, their actions can backfire with devastating consequences.

This story isn’t original; The Debt is a remake of the 2007 Israeli film Ha-Hov (The Debt), and it doesn’t seem as if much has changed from one version to the other (I have not seen the original). Being able to base the film on something already complete allows the filmmakers to evaluate what was successful and what could stand to be improved, and to focus on the difficulties on tailoring the project for a largely North American audience.  The biggest change seems to be star casting in the major roles, and that is one area where Madden and his team goofs.

The story takes place in 1965, with a young cast:  Jessica Chastain as Rachel, Sam Worthington as David and Marton Csokas as Stephan; and in 1997, with an older cast: Helen Mirren as Rachel, Ciaran Hinds as David and Tom Wilkinson as Stephan.  The casting of Hinds and Wilkinson is backwards!  Ciaran Hinds looks much more like Marton Csokas and Tom Wilkinson looks much more like Sam Worthington; it is simply astonishing that Hinds and Wilkinson were cast as they were.  The result is that watching the film, it is difficult to keep straight just which character is doing what in 1997 because it continually seems that the other one should be doing it.  I cannot remember a film in which two roles were so blatantly miscast.  It certainly affected how I viewed the movie and why I don’t feel it is as successful as it could have and should have been.

Unfortunately, the story also ends rather weakly, with Rachel (Helen Mirren) forced back into action in a mental-hospital sequence that was neither very logical or very realistic. This last sequence is very disappointing in many ways, not the least of which is that a very important character’s fate is never explained.

Except for the deplorable miscasting and the weak ending, The Debt has a lot of things going for it.  When the big lie is finally revealed, I was genuinely surprised. As the characters try to decide what to do about it, I was of a mind to leave things alone — a stance which goes against my normal journalistic tendencies.  Yet, given the time that has passed and the circumstances in which the characters find themselves (especially Rachel), my instinct as a viewer was to have them stand back. Ultimately, of course, the truth must be faced and told, but I give the film a lot of credit for making me, at least, think about what I would do under the same conditions, and for encouraging me to consider a point of view opposite of my nature.  The Debt is a lively, smart, thoughtful film with a couple of big flaws.  ✰ ✰ 1/2.  13 Sept. 2011.