Operation Mincemeat – Movie Review
Director: John Madden
Writer: Michelle Ashford (Screenplay)
Writer: Ben Macintyre (Book)
Cast
- Colin Firth (The King’s Speech)
- Matthew Macfayden (A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood)
- Kelly Macdonald (Trainspotting)
- Penelope Wilton (Shaun of the Dead)
- Jason Isaacs (Event Horizon)
Plot: During WWII, two intelligence officers use a corpse and false papers to outwit German troops.
Runtime: 2 Hours 8 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Operation Mincemeat starts with two intelligence officers Charles Cholmondeley (MacFadyen) and Ewen Montagu (Firth) looking for their next plan to outwit the German troops. The mission sees the pair plant a dead body of a fallen soldier in a location the Germans will find it. It will have a letter planted on it with plans on where the next attack will happen.
As the pair look to get their operation done, they come across a few problems along the way. However, because of how farfetched it has become, it seems impossible to make up. The only question left is whether the Germans will fall for the trick.
Verdict on Operation Mincemeat
Operation Mincemeat is a war drama following the behind-the-scenes operation by the British to trick the Germans. It follows the two intelligence officers looking to make an elaborate plan work. As well as seeing how much risk was put on the mission if things didn’t work out.
Based on a true story, we get to see how this incredible story unfolded. Seeing how the men and women involved managed to pull off one of the great deceptions of all time. Everything it told well, however, seeing it play out isn’t as clever as it could be. There is a lot of one moment, leading to the next, rather than showing how we got there. With not much focus being placed on how the Germans would have read the letter. This is still an incredible story of thinking outside the box to change the results in the war.
We get a stacked cast too, with Colin Firth and Matthew Macfadyen taking center stage. The supporting cast adds plenty to the movie, showing how things are starting to spiral out of control if things don’t come together.
Final Thoughts –Operation Mincemeat is an interesting story of real-life war events.