Excellence unrecognized

Rating: 10/10 (12 June 2006)

Hands down--the most effecting, and best produced, directed, edited and acted film I have seen in a long time. It is a masterful telling of a personal dilemma within a horrible political truth and it succeeds on every level. But sadly, too many people said to me--I saw it on TV...I didn't need to see it again. And so, they missed everything this perfectly-cast movie had to offer. That day in Munich our world officially lurched into the pain of the terrorist era, and to dismiss it, without watching it,seems irresponsible. Aside from superb work from the DP, and music that hasn't been so scary since Jaws, this is a nail-biting suspense story that packs its full wallop when you finally leave. Eric Bana should have walked home with the Oscar...taking us into his core and answering his life-and-death questions with him...did he succeed? Was it worth it? How has the world suffered? What type of never-ending cycle was started? It was almost like lifting up a rock onto a never-ending snake pit. Bana was so exceptional--as was everyone in the cast--that in the trite, ultimate commitment, I truly forgot I was watching a movie. Spielberg continues to be the master and Hollywood's jealousy is sad. And as a New Yorker who watched the Twin Towers smoking on 9/11, the ending scene said it all.