Exhausting!

Rating: 9/10 (28 May 2006)

I love Steven Spielberg's movies but I truly wanted to hate this one.
The happenings at the Munich Olympics, 34 years later, are still fresh in my mind, and my feelings of that day, that someone needs to get even with Black September and its supporters is still present. Therefore, I wasn't ready to accept a large part of Spielberg's premise---that there was a great personal toll on the Israelies who were commissioned to carry out targeted killings of those who actually planned and/or carried out the terrorist plot.
With mixed emotions I have to say that this is an outstanding movie pointing out the complexities of how a free Western society reacts to the actions of society's lowest common denominator--those who would rather destroy a perceived enemy than attempt to work with them as partners.
While there are many fine technical aspects of Munich--the precision needed to hunt down and destroy the terrorists--what is most memorable is the final questioning by the Israelis of the implications of what they are doing. And, it is important to note, Israel has pretty much gone out of the targeted assassination business.