Mr. Movie reviews: "Munich"

An Open Letter to Steven Spielberg

Dear Mr. Spielberg,

Thank you very much for Indiana Jones and “Shindler’s List,” I enjoyed them very much. On the subject of “Munich” I can’t say as much. Mr. Spielberg your film feels weak.  Limp and devoid of a viewpoint, an impotent gesture, this film lacks conviction even as it tries to illustrate a man that loses his conviction. There is a scene in your film which I think ties your failure up pretty well.  The cross cutting between the protagonists conjugal reunion with his wife and the death of the terrorists and their captives, is some pretty juvenile symbolism. It is crappy in the same way that adolescents find Dadaist manifestos attractive.  I guess somewhere in all this pretense is some resemblance to “Serpico” and “The Fench Connection.”

On the subject of crap, the scene where the PLO agents and Mossad agents end up staying in the same safe house and fighting over the radio was tired.  That they would end up agreeing to listen to Al Green as a compromise, was a bit of humor that felt misplaced in this film.  If there was anything they would agree on listening to it would probably be  a football game.

And speaking of crappy misplaced comments, I would like to mention those of Janusz Kaminski. “The Terrorists were not cold-blooded killers.”  Now I realize Mr. Kaminski grew up being taught Israelis are “bad guys,” his words.  The thing is when you set out to invade a hotel room and kill or be killed, that pretty much makes you a cold-blooded killer.  Even if said occupants of room are Jewish.  Now since Mr. Kaminski has left the wonderful Jew loving land of Poland, he has seen the other side of the coin in U.S. Soviet relationships.  He obviously has not seen the Jewish side of this coin. Considering all the inequities, deaths on both sides, ethical miscarriages, there are some things you can say about the Israelis and the Jews.  They don’t wish all Muslims death, they don’t wish all Arab countries destroyed, and they don’t want all non-Jews under Jewish law, and they certainly hold no ill will for Americans.  

Terrorists and terrorism are bad, everyone gets it, why can’t Mr. Kaminski get it?

Well I am sorry that we both had to go through this, I hope we can all still get together for that Indiana Jones 4 thing.

Sincerely,

Mr. Movie