München on Spielberg's Munich

Was really looking forward to this one. Plot sounded great. Good cast. The Spielberg touch -- when it's a serious project, no one is better (Ryan and Schindler, for instance).

My verdict? Really disappointed. And the thing is, if 45-55 minutes had been cut, it might well be the best film of the year.

Spoiler alert!
*************

The photography is stunning. From the re-creations of the initial kidnapping, to locations around Europe, the film looks like it was shot in 1973 with 2005 gear, sort of like how Ryan seemed a bit like the world's greatest documentary during the battle sequences. The actors are all, to a person, first rate. As we watch the first hit take place, we can't help but notice how inept our Mossad assassins are. While they get better, they still botch the job several times. As opposed to a Clancy story, where any Delta Force or Special Forces type can simply do no wrong, it was refreshing to see human faces on our deadly assassins.

But... it just dragged. Our hero quickly realizes he's losing his humanity in performing these jobs, and he reaches the conclusion that another terrorist will simply take the place of the one he just killed so quickly, we wonder why we sit through the next couple hours. The paranoia, so vital to the plot, comes in quickly, but loses its tension after so much time. And I just don't get his haunted visions -- wouldn't the awful images of the athletes being butchered be a source of inspiration for him? Not pain; if anything, it should be relief for him.

I love Spielberg. Have since Jaws. But in 2005, he made two of the most disappointing films of the year. Is he just too powerful, and editor will dare tell him "Steve, we gotta cut the prostitute assassin, we gotta cut the Beirut scene, we gotta cut the newlyweds, we gotta cut the aborted hit in London..." and so on? Take those scenes out, plus a few others, and Munich becomes a tight, gripping, and emotionally moving film.