Good first half, uneven second half

Rating: 6/10 (12 February 2006)

This is a heavy movie, dealing with a heavy subject in a heavy manner. The first part is good and deserves a score of 7. This part has a well told story full of suspense and great character building. Most important of all, the first part leaves some questions unanswered and as a spectator you look forward to have them answered. You have the feeling that something is going on behind the scenes? Also, some interesting ethical questions are raised about the mission and the assassinations.
Unfortunately the second part doesn't quite deliver, and "only" deserves a score of 5. The pace of the movie is dramatically reduced and all the suspense from the first part is killed off by predictability. Spielberg also becomes so focused on showing the view of both sides (the Palestinian and Israeli), that the story and dialog becomes clumsy. It's not exactly bad, but it wasn't enough to keep me from staring at the clock.
It is as if Spielberg wants to include everything in one movie. He wants to deliver an exciting story with suspense, some great undercover-agent elements and interesting characters. He also wants to deal with some heavy issues about the legitimacy of killing, the definition of loyalty towards one country, the problem of having or not having a home, the emotional and familial side-effects of being part of a manhunt, both as the hunter and the hunted. Additionally he tries to fit the Palestinian point of view into a story that is already full. All of the intentions are great. All of the dilemmas above are interesting, but trying to fit them into one movie results in an uneven and clumsily told story that doesn't know what leg to stand on.