Munich

For over a decade now, Steven Spielberg has been trying to prove to the world that he's grown up by making more adult themed, "important" films. Except one problem, he hadn't, at least not until now. With Munich, he finally has the courage to hold true to the core of his convictions and not water them down with sentimentality and cheap emotional manipulation. This film deals with a secret Israeli squad assigned to track down and assassinate the 11 Palestinians responsible for kidnapping and murdering the Israeli athletes at 1972 Olympics in Munich. The film is an international thriller (I feel like paying a travel agent after watching it), and thrilling it is. But more importantly, it is about the moral ambiguities of returning violence for violence. It neither condones nor condemns the actions (of either side), merely presents them and asks the audience to decide what they believe. There are no easy answers and the film offers none. It is, however, incredibly fair. There are some wonderfully executed scenes including the opening scene at the Olympics, a scene at a French villa where Eric Bana (the leader of the squad) converses with a French contact, and the climactic montage juxtaposing the death of the Israeli athletes with a morally confused Eric Bana making love to his wife -- the juxtaposition of life and death, a bit heavy-handed perhaps, but effective. While the films deals with the complexities of the situations in the Middle East, much has been made of its current relevance in America. Actually, I think that the questions this film poses are relevant as much in peace time as in war, and for any nation. Though I suppose it is no coincidence that the film concludes on an image of New York City with the Twin Towers in the background. This is the best American film of the year.