Based on the 2010 Ben McIntyre novel of the same name, Operation Mincemeat tells the astounding true story of a British plan to deceive the Nazi’s using a corpse loaded with false documents.
Adapted by screenwriter Michelle Ashfield and directed by Shakespeare in Love’s John Madden, the film focuses on Naval intelligence officer Ewen Montagu, played by Colin Firth, as he is selected by MI5 to join the XX committee, a shadowy unit tasked with WWII espionage and counter intelligence.
Teamed with Matthew Macfadyen’s eccentric RAF officer Charles Cholmondeley (Pronounced Chumley as he keenly points out on numerous occasions) the pair mastermind an outlandish operation to drop a corpse, dressed as a Royal Marine, into the Ocean off the coast of Spain. In a plan straight out of ‘Weekend at Bernies’ The Brits attempt to deceive the Germans by loading the dead man with fake documents, outlining Allied plans to invade Greece (when in fact their real target was Sicily).
Firth and MacFadyen give solid performances as the odd couple running the ruse, and the pair go to incredible lengths to create a backstory for their corpse, giving him the fictitious name Captain William Martin and loading him with personal items as well as the all important papers.
Kelly MacDonald lends support as Jean Leslie the MI5 Secretary who donated a picture of her younger self to Captain Martin’s ‘belongings’, whilst Penelope Wilton stars as Hester Leggett the person responsible for writing a wholly believable love letter to go with it.
Jason Issacs takes on the role of the teams cantankerous superior, whilst the excellent Simon Russel Beale delivers his best Churchill impression as the British PM and the man who gave the plan its eventual green light.
Offering a realistic look at counter intelligence in the era, the film features a lot of tense discussion in smokey rooms, especially as the team nervously await news from the frontline. However there is also an element of humour that comes from the complete absurdity of the plan.
A love triangle between Jean, Ewan and Charles is shoe horned in to pad out the runtime, but feels entirely unnecessary to what is otherwise a enthralling insight into the lengths the allies went to, to gain an edge and the pivotal operation which helped swing WWII their way.
The films pedestrian pace and lack of action will mean it won’t be embraced by everyone, but it has an undeniable charm which is hard to ignore.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Paul Steward
@Grittster
22/04/22