A new espionage movie just hit Netflix, Operation Mincemeat. If you’re looking for a new movie to watch on Netflix then check it out. It is a story of the greatest intelligence/spy mission during World War II that completely fooled and humiliated Nazi Germany and Adolf Hitler. It was a ruse designed to fool the Germans into thinking that the allied forces were going to land in Greece, but in actuality, they landed in Sicily which began their invasion of Italy. It was a turning point in World War II. This is the story of how it happened. Much like Great British espionage thrillers, stories like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy or even a good James Bond novel, this movie might seem fictional and just a great espionage story, but what makes it fantastic is knowing that it actually happened. Plus this movie is very faithful to real-life events. And in case you’re wondering, yes, a young Ian Fleming, who worked for Naval intelligence during World War II was part of the operation and this experience as well as many other experiences which led him to create probably the most popular spy in pop culture… James Bond.
I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, but I’m also a huge fan of espionage thrillers, having grown up reading these kinds of books. The story takes place in 1943 when allied forces were trying to figure out how to get a foothold deep into Europe and invade enemy territories. At this point, Allied forces had only reached as far as England, so this is why this particular intelligence operation was so important. It involved a dead body, floating in a sea with fake documents of War plans about a fake invasion off the coast of Spain because Spain fed information to the Nazis all with the hope that the Germans would take the bait. They did and no, that’s not really a spoiler, it’s just history. This movie tells the tale of the men involved in the operation and everything they went through down to the most minuscule detail that they had to get right, including a picture of a sweetheart and a full backstory for the floating dead man. The movie would have been entertaining enough just for how the plan came together, but what really makes the movie worth watching is the cast. Starring Colin Firth and Matthew MacFayden, along with Kelly Macdonald, Jason Isaacs, and Johnny Flynn who plays a young Ian Fleming.
Their performances are great and it’s what drives this movie as they’re planning every detail in the basements of London, where Naval intelligence and the precursor to MI5 worked. The story almost feels like a documentary because there’s so much detail involved about what happened. As I said, it’s very faithful to the real story even talking about how a corner had to fake a death by drowning from a corpse that had died of rat poisoning, that’s an interesting story in itself. The only thing that is really dramatized is the romantic interest with some of the characters that never really took place, but it isn’t a distraction to the film to begin with. It has the right amount of pacing that a good espionage thriller should have and even though you know the outcome because of history, the story is told in great fashion which will keep you on the edge of your seat knowing have one thing can go wrong and ruin the entire plan. Great actors who helped drive the story can make this happen in a movie. It’s a period piece so getting the feel of World War II London is probably the hardest part, but because London does feel very much like an old city, they really captured the time period well.
I don’t really have any complaints about this movie, if you’re into espionage thrillers then this is a great one to watch on Netflix. Even if at times it feels like a History Channel retelling, the performances from the cast will keep you interested right to the end. Now the film isn’t without its problems. I would honestly say that the worst part of the film is the poor casting choice of Winston Churchill. Maybe it’s hard to imagine anybody else playing Winston Churchill after Gary alderman had such a brilliant then Oscar-Worthy performance a few years ago, but Simon Russell Beale who plays Churchill just didn’t deliver. Not that he’s a bad actor, he isn’t, he just wasn’t the right choice for this role. And if I have to be critical, the flashback-type scenes of War doesn’t really do this film Justice… it’s more of a distraction from the overall story, but it’s also brilliantly masked by the great narration of Johnny Flynn. I really enjoyed him as Ian Fleming and if you’ve ever gone back and looked at old interviews with Ian Fleming, Johnny Flynn very much sound like him so there was that rhythm in his voice that made you feel like this was a James Bond story. It’s true that movies on Netflix can be hit or miss, but Operation Mincemeat is one of the better ones that I have seen.
With a great cast as the backbone of the film, Operation Mincemeat delivers and is one that you should watch on Netflix. Colin Firth and Matthew MacFayden are great and provide the driving force behind this film along with Kelly MacDonald, who in a lot of ways feels like the Moneypenny of the story. There’s a lot to like about this movie if you are a fan of classic espionage films. What few problems the film has does not overshadow the brilliant performances and great retelling of this true story during World War II. Also, having someone portray a young Ian Fleming with such a standout performance and knowing that Fleming was actually part of this operation makes the film a little bit better than it probably is. It’s the kind of espionage thriller that makes you feel like you were actually there when it was all happening. And with the exception of the casting choice for Winston Churchill, everybody else was cast perfectly in their roles. I highly recommend this film on Netflix, especially for the spy fans out there.
