Operation Mincemeat

The many stumbling blocks, setbacks and eventual (spoiler alert for a three-quarters-of-a-century-old war) triumphs of Operation Mincemeat are handled by a deft crew of real-life stiff-upper-lip types played by the finest U.K. actors working today.

The film thus operates on multiple levels, playing like an old-fashioned caper as well as a window into history. And like its inspiration, if there are hiccups here and there, when the smoke clears it's hard to consider this delicious "Operation" anything but a rousing success.

The story itself is so absurd and is told with enough surprises and dry humor that it’s constantly engaging.

When Operation Mincemeat is focusing on the nitty-gritty, the clinical elements of the operation and how these people hope to pull it off in a way that doesn’t get people killed, it can be thrilling.

Operation Mincemeat is watchable enough, but perhaps can’t find a fictional way into the stranger-than-fiction outrageousness of the scheme itself.

Operation Mincemeat is a solid movie, the only reasonable reactions to which are mild. A small smile and a nod of approval on one end of the spectrum, a tilt of the head and a dismissive shrug on the other.

A fine cast — Colin Firth, Matthew Macfadyen, Kelly Macdonald, Penelope Wilton — do their stiff-upper-lip best. It’s not good enough.

Set during WWII, two intelligence officers, Ewan (Colin Firth) and Charles (Matthew MacFadyen) use a corpse and falsified papers to outwit the German troops in a top secret mission codenamed; Operation Mincemeat. Every now and again a war movie comes along that tells the story of a top secret mission that went on over 70 years ago that the general public have no idea even happened. So aside from a few history nuts you’re going to know virtually nothing about Operation Mincemeat. The fact that this was a real mission is almost unbelievable and as a result the film itself feels like a spy movie and a work of fiction. It’s a gripping story with a star studded cast. I know I give out about my local cinema a lot in my reviews, especially recently but for those of you who know what cinema I’m referring to then you know I’m not exaggerating. Well we got the 4D experience yet again, certain scenes gave an added depth the filmmakers weren’t planning on because as per usual the place was ****’ baltic. Thanks again Odeon if anything you’re consistent in your lack of caring about the customer. This might have affected my judgement on the film itself slightly, it did feel a little long and dragged out in places, especially one of the subplots may have been unnecessary. But aside from that, Operation Mincemeat is well worth the time to see before it’s gone from cinemas. Highly recommended for all the history nerds.

A solid, meticously told WWII intelligence story that would have benefitted from cutting out the unhistoric love triangle in favour of a deeper look at the web of deception it was involved in.

From one aspect movie was interesting, from another not really. The acting was good and all, but the story itself, while it is interesting if on paper or to read about, I do not really think makes it that interesting watch overall. I mean since the outcome is known and predictable. Maybe it would be different if it would be as predictable or something like that. Since I like history I think the people behind all this and the story deserves wider knowledge, but for average audience I think it might not be as interesting.

Colin Firth & Matthew Macfadyen star as British officers who are charged with a rather unlikely counter-espianage caper: Plant a dead soldier off the coast of Spain to make **** commanders think that the Allies are planning to invade Greece (their real plan was Sicily). In many ways this is a classic British spy flick, which is appropriate considering that the director is John Madden (Shakespeare In Love, Best Exotic Marigold Hotel). There's lots of discussion and debate with a mild pace and even milder performances. While this true story is interesting, this film takes a dry, moderated approach that's more about history than action or suspense.

L’opération de mystification la plus dingue, la plus improbable, la plus glauque jamais mise au point par les fourbes et perfides Anglais ! d’ailleurs, avec le recul, l’on se demande comment tout cela a pu fonctionner, même s’ils ont fait tout ce qui était en leur pouvoir pour forcer la chance, bien entendu. Mais cette opération ‘Mincemeat’ (un nom de boustifaille rosbif aussi improbable qu’immangeable) ne méritait pas un film entier, car le sujet reste mince. Le film s’étire sur plus de deux plombes bien lourdes, tellement lourdes que vous ne pourrez pas finir le film. Malgré tous mes efforts, je n’ai tenu qu’une heure et demi et je me suis **** outre, le côté tout de même éminemment glauque de cette affaire met mal à l’aise. Certes, on ne va pas contester de telles décisions (à la guerre comme à la guerre comme on dit) mais tout de même ! Le film s’étend également beaucoup trop sur de la romance de bas étage entre les deux protagonistes principaux (sans compter les atermoiements ici et là des autres membres de l’équipe) et ce n’est que vers plus d’heure après le début que le film décolle enfin, lorsque le « Major » arrive en Espagne… Mais c’est peine perdue, car malgré un intérêt historique évident et une mise en scène très appliquée, on ronfle déjà !