Operation Mincemeat (2022)
We all know Netflix is going through quite the rough patch right now, and it’s not undeserved. However, they’re not completely devoid of intriguing content, and the new film, Operation Mincemeat fits that bill. Based on a true story, it’s a quiet thriller about a scheme that, had it failed, could have been a potential bloodbath for Great Britain during World War Two.
The film takes place in 1943. Britain wants to loosen the Nazi death grip on Europe by invading Sicily, but they know the casualties will be extremely heavy. Admiralty officers Ewan Montagu (Colin Firth) and Charles Cholmondolay (Matthew Macfayden) hatch a daring plan: Have a dead body accidentally-on-purpose wash up on shore where the Nazis will find it carrying a briefcase containing fake dispatches. It’ll throw the Nazis off and allow the Brits to land more stealthily. Maybe it’s a long shot, but it’ll be a masterwork of trolling. Churchill thinks it’s a good idea, so everyone gets to work.
It’s not just a matter of picking out a corpse and dropping it into the ocean. Ewan and Charles have to find a recently deceased man who could conceivably look like a drowning victim. The coroner has just such a body, and since he has no family, he’s unclaimed. Dubbed Major William Marshall of the Royal Marines, he has to have papers and a backstory. He even has a girlfriend he’s planning on proposing to, so he carries a photo and a ring.
Oh yes, our team goes to great lengths to make this body look legit. It’s all done in such secrecy that nerves are strained to the breaking point, but they won’t know if Operation Mincemeat succeeded until the landing takes place.
Mincemeat has been criticized for being too sedate and therefore pretty unmemorable, but in my opinion it’s quiet by necessity; espionage operatives aren’t likely to cut up or do anything that’s going to land them in the papers. The wildest these characters get is when team member and photo donor Jean (Kelly Macdonald) jitterbugs in a club with a random soldier. Other than that, it’s all about keeping a low profile.
Not to mention the film stars two actors who are known for their reserve. Both Colin Firth and Matthew Macfayden played Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, so it’s interesting to have them onscreen together. They’re both unfailingly dashing, albeit Macfayden as Charles is almost unrecognizable behind glasses, a mustache, and a receding hairline. And it’s nice seeing Firth in a role he was clearly comfortable with, especially after watching him try to drawl his way through The Staircase.
The similarities of these gentleman end up playing out in their characters. On one hand, Firth and MacFayden naturally clash because they’re too much alike, but as time goes on their characters butt heads less and less and learn where each other’s edges are. This effective partnership begs the question of whether or not Ewan and Charles stayed friends after Mincemeat finished (The real Ewan and Charles kept in touch and were likely on good terms).
The casting in the film is fantastic overall, particularly Jason Isaacs as Admiral John Godfrey. This man plays bad guys so often that it’s nice to find him in a sympathetic role, although Godfrey is still no one to be trifled with. He’s like Omar Bradley with an icy stare.
I also liked seeing Kelly Macdonald in a meatier role than the bit parts she usually plays. Not that there’s anything wrong with that because she’s a welcome sight, but I always wished she could have more screen time.
Penelope Wilton as Hester Leggett is delightful as well. She supervises the office girls fairly meticulously, but she also comes across as a den mother for the MI5 crew. This lady has had a long, distinguished film career and is never miscast as far as I can tell.
Deft as it is, the film does make a couple of missteps. The first one is the amount of tension at the end. Most of that sequence involves the principal characters and the staff sitting or standing around staring at the walls of their office bunker waiting for the news. It should be a tense scene, but it’s really not, and the reason for this is the film’s second misstep, Ian Fleming (Johnny Flynn).
Ugh. This was not handled well. Fleming’s narration and typing bookend the film and give it some emotional gravity, but it doesn’t show how Fleming really influenced Mincemeat. The real Fleming was Godfrey’s assistant and according to Decider was the one who gave Godfrey the idea of planting fake papers on a dead body.
In the movie, though, this isn’t the case. Even though Fleming appears in a few scenes with Godfrey, he’s pretty much shoved into the background tapping away at his typewriter, and when Ewan finally asks him what he’s writing, Fleming proudly declares, “A spy story!”
Subtle, guys. Very subtle. The real Ian Fleming didn’t start writing his James Bond stories until 1952, but whatever. It’s too bad that the filmmakers sacrificed potential legit tension for a “HEY, THE GUY WHO WROTE ‘JAMES BOND’ IS IN OUR MOVIE!” flex.
Fumbles aside, Operation Mincemeat is a well-crafted, well-acted portrayal of one of the biggest sleights-of-hand of the Second World War and the kind of film that’s all too rare today.
Operation Mincemeat is currently streaming on Netflix in the United States. Rated PG-13.
Starring: Colin Firth, Matthew Macfayden, Kelly Macdonald, Jason Isaacs, Penelope Wilton, Lorne MacFayden, Simon Russell Beale, Johnny Flynn
Directed by John Madden.
Screenplay by Michelle Ashford.
My grade: B+