Movie Review: Operation Mincemeat

Period piece dramas which pivot around historical events aren't movies I usually go out of my way to watch. With my motivation to go out and watch new types of movies however, I felt Operation Mincemeat was a great place to break the mold and experience a cinematic retelling of the real-life event in which Great Britain pulled the greatest "fooled you" trick in the history of espionage. 

Directed by John Madden, with a screenplay adapted by Michelle Ashford based on the book of the same name; Operation Mincemeat follows a number of British military operatives commissioned together to lay out a espionage plan to deceive the Nazi forces into believing the allied forces would launch an attack on Greece when in actuality they intend to land on the shores of Sicily. The film focuses quite a lot on the operatives and the months of set up they go through in order to send a dead body with fabricated information into the hands of the Nazis. These operatives while commendable and loyal to their country, aren't all on the same page however and there are a collection of interesting relationships that span out between the crew as the film pans out. 

From a narrative perspective, I enjoyed the film quite a bit when it focused on the build up of the operation. The amount of thought and planning that goes into setting up this plan is outlined with a lot of precise planning and it's conveyed in a visual way that makes it really fun to follow. Knowing this all happened in real life makes you appreciate the effort this committee went to in order to set up the perfect deception. War time espionage is noted as one of the biggest contributions to the war time effort that wasn't on the front lines and it's really nice to see that side of the war being reflected so well here. Where I feel the film struggles however is when it decides to focus on anything else besides the operation itself. There is a collection of plotlines layered within this story that are intended to add drama and conflict on the relationships between these characters, but they never feel natural or compelling enough to be received with as much enjoyment as the espionage stuff. The worst aspect of the film is a needless romantic subplot which I don't truly know if it actually happened, but it's baked in a nauseating love triangle plot which just feels tacked on and frankly a real waste of time. 

The cast of the film are fantastic which in all honesty doesn't feel all that surprising. There's an amazing collection of British actors and actresses that fill out the roles her with complete ease. I feel special credit needs to go out to Colin Firth and Matthew Macfadyen who have great chemistry with one another as the leaders on the operation. Pacing wise the film again struggles to justify it's 128 minute runtime when you account for how many unnecessary drama plotlines are littered all throughout it. It feels like a constant stop and start routine with the film feeling like it gets going when the operation takes centre stage and then it slows down when it tries to pivot around the other stuff. 

It's a commendable film in all honesty, I just wish it didn't feel a need to add the unnecessary drama plotlines on top of the core story. I loved learning about this operation and the effort these people went to fool Hitler and his troops though, it's a great period piece film to watch, flaws and all.