Munich (2005)

Munich is a thriller that keeps refusing to thrill you, and at 164 minutes that refusal gets heavy. Steven Spielberg opens on the 1972 Olympics, where eleven members of Israel’s team were killed, and he handles that day with care. Eric Bana’s Avner then leads a small team across Europe, and the middle hour falls into a pattern: a new city, a new name, a nervous setup, an argument in a safe house. The repetition is the point, but you feel every lap. Bana is excellent as a man losing his sense of home. Daniel Craig brings blunt certainty, Ciarán Hinds brings a tired conscience, and Geoffrey Rush makes every meeting feel like a test. A quiet stairwell conversation between Avner and a young Palestinian fighter is the film’s center, and Spielberg gives both men room to speak. It made $131 million worldwide on a reported $70M. A 7.8 because it’s serious, humane and longer than it needs to be. $5,202 says you’re still turning Avner’s last conversation over in your head when you wake up tomorrow.

What works: Eric Bana carries the film with quiet, mounting doubt, and Spielberg treats the victims of 1972 and the questions that follow with real seriousness.

What doesn’t: At 164 minutes, the middle hour repeats the same tense pattern so often that the impact starts to dull before the final act.

Who it’s for: Viewers who want a serious, patient political thriller and don’t mind being left with questions instead of answers.