Operation Finale
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | Release Date: August 29, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
58
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 33 Critic Reviews
Positive:
15
Mixed:
18
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyAug 22, 2018
It’s the psychological duel between the terrific Isaac and Kingsley as captor and prisoner that delivers the film’s most charged jolts of electricity. Read full review
80
Film ThreatAlan NgAug 28, 2018
You must see Operation Finale solely for this interaction between Malkin and Eichmann (Isaac and Kingsley). Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliAug 29, 2018
The movie, which is concerned primarily with the several weeks surrounding Eichmann’s capture, mixes factual elements with a few “Hollywood touches” to provide a compelling thriller. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyAug 29, 2018
Engrossing and a little moving. And Isaac is a very winning and effective messenger of Peter Malkin’s heroism and humanity. Read full review
75
The Seattle TimesSoren AndersenAug 29, 2018
It is the scenes in a Buenos Aires safe house between Eichmann (Ben Kingsley) and Mossad agent Peter Malkin (Oscar Isaac), the leader of the abduction team, where “Operation Finale” departs from usual espionage-movie scenarios. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTom RussoAug 28, 2018
Notoriously remembered as a mastermind of the Final Solution, Eichmann was also infamous for the just-following-orders dispassion he maintained all the way through his trial, a banality that Kingsley channels expertly. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreAug 27, 2018
You don’t expect a movie about The Holocaust to be flippant, glib almost. Read full review
75
UproxxVince ManciniAug 22, 2018
For the most part, Operation Finale is a good story, well told. Yet something about it isn’t entirely satisfying either. It deftly eschews the most simplistic takes, but what it offers in return — the banality of evil, essentially — isn’t quite groundbreaking either. Still, it’s more than worth it to watch Ben Kingsley and Oscar Isaac spar for a bit. Read full review
70
The New York TimesA.O. ScottAug 28, 2018
It’s a story very worth telling, told pretty well, with self-evident virtues and obvious limitations. Viewers who see it out of a sense of duty will find some pleasure in the bargain. Call it the banality of good. Read full review
70
The New YorkerRichard BrodyAug 27, 2018
Despite clichéd depictions of Nazi atrocities, the movie persuasively evokes, with its wealth of details, the slender threads on which historical events—and historical truth—depend. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeAug 22, 2018
Isaac and Kingsley bring quite a bit to Orton's dialogue, sometimes seeming to mean it at face value and sometimes inviting skepticism. Read full review
67
The PlaylistJoe BlessingSep 2, 2018
The film works best when at its simplest — two brilliant actors sparring with each other, Kingsley attempting to justify the horrific, Issac attempting to stay human and just while grappling with the embodiment of the Third Reich’s unfathomable legacy. Read full review
65
The AtlanticDavid SimsAug 29, 2018
The film is a diverting watch, anchored with enough of Weitz’s intriguing personal touches to keep it from feeling like a glorified History Channel special. Read full review
63
Philadelphia Daily NewsGary ThompsonAug 29, 2018
Isaac and Kingsley are game, and their scenes have decent dramatic tension, but of course the outcome is never in doubt, and in the end, Weitz is left to rely on more contrived thriller elements to give the movie a finishing kick, which feels nonetheless like a letdown. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneKatie WalshAug 28, 2018
Unfortunately, Operation Finale feels a bit behind the ball when it comes to the dramatic true story. Read full review
60
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinAug 30, 2018
Most of the time you can’t tell if you’re seeing Eichmann’s eccentricities or Kingsley doing a sort of Nazi Hannibal Lecter — the banality of ham. Read full review
60
Rolling StoneDavid FearAug 29, 2018
Despite the fact that the movie is stocked to the gills with screen talent — both Nick Kroll and Melanie Laurent stand out as fellow team members; Simon Russell Beale’s cameo as David Ben-Gurion deserves its own three-hour movie — it’s really a two-man job. Read full review
60
Wall Street JournalJohn AndersonAug 29, 2018
A serviceable thriller, kind of an “Argo” in Argentina, replete with ornate preparations, plans gone awry and narrow escapes. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranAug 28, 2018
The efforts of an international cast including stars Oscar Isaac, Melanie Laurent and Nick Kroll notwithstanding, Operation Finale sounds more involving than it actually plays, ending up earnest and acceptable more than compelling. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicKerry LengelAug 27, 2018
The acting is great, but screenwriter Matthew Orton’s attempts to give the film the philosophical heft that it deserve fall somewhat short. Read full review
60
VarietyOwen GleibermanAug 22, 2018
The last thing you want a movie like this one to feel like is a slick Hollywood suspense drama with famous historical names plugged in. Operation Finale doesn’t feel like that, yet taken on its own here’s how it really happened terms, the movie is at once plausible and sketchy, intriguing and not fully satisfying. Read full review
60
TheWrapElizabeth WeitzmanAug 22, 2018
It’s a shame the filmmakers felt constrained by the import of their subject matter, rather than inspired to take some artistic risks. But even when the storytelling falters, the story itself — not merely extraordinary, but eternally relevant — remains paramount. Read full review
58
IndieWireDavid EhrlichAug 22, 2018
Weitz and Orton mean to question the individual’s role in a mass atrocity, but the abstract nature of their ideas never squares with the rigidity of their storytelling. As a result, Operation Finale doesn’t feel ambiguous so much as it feels like it lacks a point of view. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperAug 31, 2018
Everything unfolds pretty much as we anticipate, and at times “Operation Finale” IS gripping and involving — but more often, the story slows to a crawl and actually becomes less involving just when we should be holding our breath. This is a well-made but formulaic, by-the-numbers drama. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinAug 30, 2018
The fleeting good moments in Operation Finale come from a few of the actors. Read full review
50
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanAug 29, 2018
Unfortunately, whatever steam has been built up during the more compelling first act slowly dissipates under the overly talky, on-the-nose conclusion, despite some modest suspense ginned up as Argentine authorities get close to discovering the safe house. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoAug 29, 2018
Although it has its merits, Operation Finale — which recounts the 1960 extraction of Adolf Eichmann from Argentina and his delivery to Jerusalem to stand trial — fails to measure up to the deep historical impact of the events it depicts. Read full review
50
Film Journal InternationalSimi HorwitzAug 28, 2018
Given the magnitude and complexity of the topic, an entertaining film is almost irrelevant, at moments trivializing. This particular story cries out to be viewed through a new, fresh lens. Otherwise, why are we hearing it? Why now? Read full review
50
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlAug 28, 2018
Rather than the cagey, caged mastermind who later would play dumb at trial, this Eichmann is just another movie bad guy — and Operation Finale is just another movie. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloAug 24, 2018
Operation Finale means to embody the banality of evil, but it’s mostly mired in plain old banality. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineMarshall ShafferAug 24, 2018
The film never manages to reconcile the enormity of the Holocaust with how ordinary a bureaucrat Eichmann was. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovAug 29, 2018
If you’re looking for "Inglourious Basterds" redux, then this bloodless historical drama isn’t for you. Despite a pair of steely performances from Kingsley (as Eichmann) and Isaac (playing a roguish Shin Bet agent who eventually turns out to be the key to unlocking Eichmann’s stubborn ego), Operation Finale has the too-slow-burn of "Argo"-lite. Read full review
40
The GuardianCharles BramescoAug 22, 2018
The debate over the utility of violence and the dignity owed prisoners of war has raged since time immemorial, and recent developments have only amplified the decibel level. Operation Finale zeroes in on these complex dynamics, only to erase their nuance. Read full review
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