Munich (2005) from Johnny Web (Uncle Scoopy; Greg Wroblewski)

Two unenthusiastic reviews from two lifetime Spielberg fans.

Scoop's notes

Eleven Israeli athletes died in the 1972 Summer Olympics as a result of a kidnapping by a terrorist group named Black September and a botched rescue job by the Germans. In the aftermath of the tragedy, the Israelis (unofficially, of course) dispatched a commando squadron of black operatives to kill all those who had been involved in the planning of the Munich kidnapping. Munich is Steven Spielberg's semi-historical film about the Jewish commandos assigned to the revenge squad.

Munich is a very good film. In fact, it has moments that are so good it is difficult to imagine any other filmmaker having tackled them so well. One scene involves the assassination of a rich Arab which almost killed his young daughter because she answered a phone during an unplanned visit to her father's office. The film portrays the incident as Hitchcock would have, with the Israelis rushing to undo plans already in motion. Another brilliant sequence involves a Dutch woman, a professional assassin who kills one of the Israelis and then is killed in turn by his colleagues. Perhaps the most impressive work involves the way Spielberg recreates the actual events in Munich with a combination of genuine period footage and re-enactment.

Munich is also a very important film, and a daring one at that. The continuing cycle of terrorist and anti-terrorist violence is probably the central issue of the 21st century, and will continue to be for some time. Spielberg didn't walk an especially safe path through this minefield. Although he is probably the world's single most visible Jew, and a man obviously proud of his cultural heritage, he didn't take a one-sided approach to the issue. He has no sympathy for the terrorists, but neither does he cheer for the Israeli response. In fact, he strongly indicts the leaders of Israel for having compromised their own core cultural values in their pursuit of revenge for the Munich killings, without ever really having accomplished any strategic goal. Every Arab they killed was soon replaced, and the Black September leaders were often replaced by fanatics who found Black September insufficiently radical. Spielberg did his very best to tell it like it is, and has taken some lumps from political nutburgers on both sides of the fence, because he has blamed them both. The film has some balls.

If Marty Scorsese had created Munich it would be considered another brilliant manifestation of his underappreciated genius, but whatever Spielberg does, it isn't enough. We hold Steven Spielberg to a higher standard than anyone in the world of film or pop culture. He created one of the most popular films of 2005 (War of the Worlds), as well as one of the most significant (Munich), and people seem to treat him as if he had a worse year than Rafael Palmeiro and George Bush combined. After all, Munich isn't the favorite for best picture, it's merely a nominee. After all, it grossed only $40 million from its monstrous $75 million budget. Never mind that none of the other Oscar nominees have grossed more than $53 million. They weren't directed by Spielberg. This is the man who has created some of the most profitable films in history. This is the man who has created some of the most significant films in history. This is the man who has created a vary large chunk of our childhoods and the popular iconography of our culture. Other directors are occasionally honored by a gold statuette. Spielberg is honored by theme parks. He has a very high bar to clear.

I read one negative review of Munich that said, in essence, the film wasn't very good because Spielberg had done nothing more than identify a well-known problem, and hadn't offered any solution. Say what? A solution? In other words, it isn't enough that he made a movie. Do we ask Marty Scorsese for the solution to organized crime? Do we demand that Ang Lee tell us how gay people can be accepted in society? No, they are only required to make films, but Spielberg won't have done enough until he has brought peace to the Middle East!

Perhaps it is right that we demand so much from him. Perhaps our demands make him greater. When people rode him for creating "mere" entertainment films back in the 70s and 80s, he responded with Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan.

In a very real sense, I hate to join the crowd which is so critical of Spielberg, and yet I had a problem with this film. As much as I admired the craftsmanship that went into Munich, I could never really get involved in it except during the sequences at the Olympics. Every previous Spielberg film, even Schindler's List and Amistad, manages to establish an emotional rapport with the audience in some way. This one does not. It is a cold, aloof, cerebral film filled with a mature awareness that human actions and reactions are complex and may be interpreted in many ways. It is the kind of film which might have been written by a championship debater who is always intensely aware of the weakness of every argument and every rebuttal to every argument. It does not allow the audience to root for anyone, nor does it allow the audience even to get to know anyone very well. Steven Spielberg, who has been so often criticized for leading with his heart and ignoring his brain, has made a film that doesn't have much heart at all.

So I'll raise my voice in praise of how complex and grown-up Munich is, and I'll be the first in line to praise about ten brilliant set pieces within the film, but I didn't really like it that much, and I can certainly understand why its box office gross is disappointing. I regard this movie as I regard Citizen Kane - a film to admire, but not one that makes me relish the thought of watching it again.