Operation Finale

Based on a true story, Operation Finale depicts the covert operation in which years after WWII and the Nuremburg trials, Adolf Eichmann—the feared architect of the Nazi Final Solution—was finally captured. Tipped off that Eichmann (Ben Kingsley) was living under the alias “Ricardo Klement” in Argentina, Israel’s Mossad agency was initially skeptical. Apparently when an Argentine teenager, Sylvia Hermann (Haley Lu Richardson), brought home her new, outspokenly Aryan boyfriend, Klaus Eichmann (Joe Alwyn), her father (Peter Strauss) made the connection. But it took a while for Israeli authorities to verify that they were truly on the trail of Eichmann. In May 1960, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion (Simon Russell Beale) sent an undercover team from Tel Aviv to Buenos Aires, noting, “For the first time in history, we will judge our executioner, and we will warn off any who wish to follow his example.” Led by Peter Malkin (Oscar Isaac), the team must quietly abduct Eichmann and hide out in a safe house until a plane can whisk them out of the country. Naturally, their extraction plan is fraught with unexpected complications. Directed by Chris Weitz (who gives a subtle nod to his mother, actress Susan Kohner, by having her 1959 Imitation of Life playing at the theater where Sylvia meets Klaus), this is recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director Chris Weitz, and a behind-the-scenes featurette (7 min.). Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are bonus DVD and digital copies of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a fine historical thriller.] (S. Granger)