Operation Mincemeat: Film Review
I thought John Madden‘s new war drama Operation Mincemeat might be quite serious and stuffy given the premise but thankfully it’s really compelling stuff.
The film tells the story of Britain’s successful deception effort during World War II in 1943. They wanted the Germans to think they were planning to invade Greece to throw them off the scent of their real target – Sicily. Ewen Montagu (Colin Firth) and Charles Cholmondeley (Matthew Macfadyen) use the body of homeless man Glyndwr Michael and transform him into the fictitious Major William Martin. They need to create a believable identity and backstory for Martin before he washes up on the shore of Spain – presumably drowned – with “classified” documents about the fake Greece attack.
There are a lot of strategy and planning meetings before this operation can be put into action and this could have been quite dreary and boring but it’s thankfully not. It was gripping and interesting and certain parts of the operation prep moved along at a jaunty clip. Plus, there’s enough levity throughout so the film doesn’t take itself too seriously. That being said, I lost my way a little once the operation took place as it became a waiting game and I lost track of who was who and what was happening. Thankfully, Madden brought it back for a deeply satisfying ending that moved me to tears. I wasn’t expecting that!
In addition to the mission, a potential love triangle subplot comes into play between Ewen, Charles and Jean Leslie (Kelly Macdonald), a member of their team. I didn’t think the romance element was entirely necessary, and at one stage, I was concerned it might overtake the operation in terms of screentime and importance but thankfully Madden eventually reels it back in.
Firth is reliably brilliant as the co-leader of the operation but he is outshone by Macfadyen who gets most of the laughs thanks to his outspoken, straight-talking character. His line delivery is just spot-on! Macdonald’s Jean is a smart, independent woman with great integrity so I liked her very much. But the star of the piece is Johnny Flynn, who steals every scene he’s in as the charismatic Ian Fleming – yes, the James Bond writer. There are a few fun references to his later career that made me chuckle.
Operation Mincemeat shines a light on an incredible story and tells it in a gripping and entertaining way.
In cinemas Friday 15th April