The Debt

1.5 Paws
Seen recently at Aksarben Cinema

The queen has no clothes.

Don't be lured, as I was, into thinking this film was going to be a top-notch thrill ride based on the acting chops of its two supposed leads (bait and switch, by the way) - Oscar winner Helen Mirren (Rachel Singer) and Oscar nominee Tom Wilkinson (Stephan Gold).

Wilkinson is a no show, and Mirren's accent flickers in and out like your car radio on a drive through western Nebraska. The only nice thing I can say about Mirren's Singer is that she wears her scar well.

There were a few bright spots - the mod squad clothing of 1960s East Berlin during the flashback sequences and the performances of Marton Csokas (young Stephan Gold) and Jesper Christensen (Doktor Bernhardt/Dieter Vogel). Csokas is intense and appealing on screen - I have a feeling we'll be seeing more of him in the future. And you can't get any creepier than Christensen's version of a Nazi war criminal - I hope his grandkids don't watch this one.

Bonus Bones: 0
No dogs, which is just as well - they probably would have been shot or stabbed.