Seems like every trailer I’ve posted has Helen Mirren in it, the dame is one versatile actress! But this movie’s actually been on my radar for a while, but then the whole Disney vs. Miramax debacle threatened to send this straight to dvd. So I was tickled pink when I saw the trailer and the release date listed on IMDb is August 11 (US release). The trailer looks pretty intense, and so is the plot:
In 1965, three young Israeli Mossad agents on a secret mission capture and kill a notorious Nazi war criminal. Now, thirty years later, a man claiming to be the Nazi has surfaced in the Ukraine and one of the former agents must go back undercover to seek out the truth. (IMDb plot summary)
This has a Munich vibe to it, the Steven Spielberg movie about the aftermath of what’s called Black September of 1972, when 11 Israeli athletes were murdered at the Munich Olympics. Well, that one starred one of my fave actors from Down Under Eric Bana, and now we’ve got another Aussie Sam Worthington in the lead. We’ll see if he can hold his own against thespians like Mirren, Tom Wilkinson and Ciaran Hinds. As I said in my post yesterday, I’d love to see more of his dramatic side. Getthebigpicture.net thinks this is more of a Helen Mirren vehicle though, she plays Rachel Singer, an ex-Mossad agent in charge of tracking down the Nazi war criminal known as The Surgeon of Birkenau, whom everyone thought was dead but suddenly turned up in Ukraine. Jesper Christensen (Mr. White in Casino Royale) plays the hunted criminal, Jessica Chastain (who’s been doing mostly TV work) plays Mirren’s character’s younger self, while the older character of Worthington is played by Hinds. Huh? I don’t see any resemblance at all between these two, but whatever.
The movie is directed by John Madden (Her Majesty, Mrs. Brown; Shakespeare in Love), with Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn (who penned the script for Kick-Ass) as two of the team of writers. I wonder how complex is the story that it needs five writers? Well at least the trailer keeps it under wraps enough and didn’t reveal way too much.
What do you think folks, would you see this one?
FLIXCHATTER FILM BLOG 
Maaaaaybe? Helen Mirren alone is enough to cancel out Worthington (sorry, nothing I’ve heard impresses me), never mind when combined with Ciaran Hinds and Tom Wilkinson. Man, do I love Tom Wilkinson. He’s this awesome actor who turns up in everything and people always say “OMG he’s so good” and then forget about him.
So that’s a solid maybe. Definitely will depend on reviews, etc.
Worthington still got a lot to prove if he wants to be taken seriously. He’s getting by with charm so far, that’s why he’s cast in so many flicks, but he needs to take it another notch. I like Wilkinson, though in Rocknrolla, he’s actually ‘upstaged’ by the great Mark Strong (I’m sure you’d agree).
Despite of the Mirren-Chastain-Hinds-Wilkinson tetrumvirate (boy am I making up words today), I still have doubts with this movie. The trailer makes it seem really action-y, which might mean that they’re gonna bury good acting/plot/qriting under action sequences, or the trailer’s misleading.
Hope The Tempest is good though.
Like that word, tetrumvirate, wow! Well, I hope that the action-y trailer is just done to ‘entice’ people, as that’s what a trailer is supposed to do. The actual movie might be more nuanced and will showcase the acting and story that seems pretty gripping. The Tempest is another upcoming movie of Mirren, correct?
Didn’t The Tempest get indefinitely shelved? Pretty sure I read that somewhere … will be happy if it isn’t true. Sort of. I don’t normally support the whole gender-bending of Shakespearean characters, but for Madame Mirren I will make an exception.
Not sure about that, wasn’t on my radar. Just realized Russell Brand is in it, that guy gets on my nerves. I thought he was hilarious on Leno once, but his brand of humor (pardon the pun) gets old quick. But Alfred Molina is in it, that just might be the saving grace of this if it got released.
Actually, I found a bit of info … something about Miramax being in trouble, and a number of films getting shelved. The Debt was another one, interestingly enough. The article said they would either get shelved permanently or get very limited theater releases prior to video release. So maybe something has changed, since The Debt is putting out trailers, and The Tempest is listed as “completed” on IMDb. I’ll be keeping an eye open, since movies + Shakespeare is an interest of mine.
Hey thanks for the info, Sam. You should blog about The Tempest, I can always learn more about Shakespeare and the movies from you 🙂
Hmm. I wonder if I could pull off a big post about Shax film adaptations in general. That might require me to watch a few of more iconic ones out there. Or I could just talk about the ones I think are good. I shall think on this matter. 😀
How about a top ten or top five Shax flix (I like how you shorten his name, ha!) That’d be an education for people like me.
I just don’t like Worthington because everyone calls him the “new Russell Crowe”. 😉 Seriously, though, I haven’t heard anything that makes me believe he’s got the smarts/chops to make good on that nickname.
Yeah, Rocknrolla belongs to Mr. Strong, it’s true. But Wilkinson is still the awesomes in it.
Heck no, he’s no RC. People always do that because he’s Aussie and they kinda have the same masculine look. I might be guilty of that initially, but yeah, from what I’ve seen he has a long ways yet to reach Crowe’s level.
Action movies including agents, police and detectives were always my least favourite genre, but I’m intrigued by the combination of Mirren and Hinds, and plus there’s our dear Samworthy :)) I’ll watch this one, just like I’ll watch RED only for Karl Urban.
Ah yes, Karl Urban. You must be thrilled to hear he’s the frontrunner to play Judge Dredd. Heh, enough comic adaptation already, can’t people write stuff about real people anymore??
oh, yes, Flixy, I’m super excited about Karl becoming Dredd. Although I’m not into action movies, that one will be sf as well and it will bring him a new lead role which he deserves more than anyone else. Nobody intrigues me more in the world of celebs like him and Patrick Wilson.
I’d love to see Karl in a drama, too, he’s got such a great, expressive face. Didn’t know you had a thing for Patrick Wilson, I first saw him in Phantom of the Opera, so obviously he’s upstaged by Butler there. But I did notice he’s got an amazing voice! He’s a versatile but underrated actor. Hmmm, perhaps I should dedicate a post for him 🙂
You should dedicate posts to both of them, and if you need pics, I have them :)))
Patrick was amazing in HARD CANDY, ANGLES IN AMERICA, LITTLE CHILDREN, WATCHMEN … he just makes you fall in love with his way of acting and his charisma every time. I’ve come to consider him a male version of Meryl Streep or Kate Blanchett, just like I think Karl Urban is a male version of my beloved Catherine Zeta Jones 🙂
I’ll be sure to ask for some pics when the time comes. You always manage to find the coolest celeb photos – albeit on the risque side 🙂
but you will admit that I always know when to stop and that I know what’s the right amount of celeb nakedness too excite my readers without being vulgar :)))
Check out my own post dedicated to Patrick Wilson back in December:
http://hollywood-spy.blogspot.com/2009/12/patrick-wilson-and-karl-urban-are.html