Operation Mincemeat (2022)

Ben Macintyre’s book of the same name is the basis for this World War Two era drama, directed by John Madden who won Oscar gold for his wildly overrated Shakespeare in Love (1998). Indeed Madden has been on much better form when attacking outright comedy (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel [2012]) or the thriller genre (The Debt [2010]). He combines both these assets to great effect here; Operation Mincemeat is tremendous fun from start to finish. Focusing on the so-ludicrous-it-can’t-be-real true life tale of a World War Two mission to drop a dead body into Spanish waters with some top secret misinformation papers enclosed (to eventually fool the Nazis into thinking Greece is the target of an attack as oppose to Sicily), Madden seems to have everybody who’s anybody from current British cinema on the screen. Colin Firth and Matthew Macfadyen lead the operation, much to the chagrin of their superior Jason Isaacs, ably supported by another Brit, Penelope Wilton (who worked with Madden on both The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel films) as well as the excellent Kelly Macdonald. There’s no doubt there’s a film to be made from the story, and Madden productively uses tension and comedy to make an engaging nuts and bolts thriller, and even if it doesn’t reach the heights of Das Boot (1981) or Black Book (2006) this is a very solid, hugely enjoyable couple of hours, and it certainly makes you think of the extraordinary intelligence, invention, thought, and sacrifice that had to go into every tiny decision. Nowadays I suppose, we’d be launching secret spy operations through Instagram or something equally as appalling, with the war being decided by how much self validation people acquire through taking pictures of themselves.

It will be interesting to see whether another of Macintyre’s books, Agent Zigzag (2007) gets an adaptation in the coming years; the tale of Eddie Chapman as one of the most incredible double agents of any war is utterly ripe for a cinematic outing. 7.2/10