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The battle of 'Munich'

Spielberg film provokes anger in some quarters

By Todd Leopold
CNN

Mathieu Kassovitz, left, and Eric Bana star in Steven Spielberg's "Munich."

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(CNN) -- Steven Spielberg has called his new film, "Munich," "a prayer for peace." But -- probably much to his dismay -- the film has provoked war, a war of words if not of deeds.

"In his depiction of reality there are no people so committed to a murderous ideology that they are impervious to the sort of compromise and dialogue Spielberg puts such great faith in," wrote columnist David Brooks in The New York Times. "Because he will not admit the existence of evil, as it really exists, Spielberg gets reality wrong."

"Why should I admire somebody for his ability to manipulate me? In other realms of life, this talent is known as demagoguery," wrote Leon Wieseltier of Spielberg in The New Republic.

At the heart of "Munich" are questions of morals and ethics, set in motion by an Israeli plan to exact revenge on the Palestinian terrorists who murdered 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Is the plan appropriate? In killing terrorists, are you creating more terrorists? Does revenge weaken the soul, and if so, is it worth it anyway? How far should one take violence to maintain a country? A civil society? Is the world civil at all?

These are the kinds of questions that recur in holy books, in philosophy classes, in any consideration of laws, deeds and society. "Munich," with a script co-written by "Angels in America" playwright Tony Kushner, offers no easy answers, telling the story from the point of view of a secret Israeli assassination squad but playing things down the middle -- which is one way the film has left itself open to attack, well chronicled by Salon's Michelle Goldberg..

"Munich" straddles a line between reality ("based on true events," the movie says) and drama. It is a work of fiction, not a documentary, which also has left it vulnerable. But as art, as a movie, the film has fared better with critics -- most of them, anyway.

" 'Munich,' through the unromantic oddity of its assassins, does something all too rare: It immerses us in a suspense that's logistical and, at the same time, anxiously humane," wrote Entertainment Weekly's Owen Gleiberman, giving the movie an "A."

"A thought-provoking, highly charged inquiry into the political, moral and historical ramifications of terrorism and the effort to combat this scourge," said The Hollywood Reporter's Kirk Honeycutt.

The film also made Roger Ebert's, Newsweek's and the American Film Institute's 10-best lists. But both The New Yorker and The Village Voice gave it careful pans, and it wasn't nominated in the best drama category of the Golden Globes (though Spielberg and the screenwriters earned nods).

Obviously, this will not be a movie for everybody.

Eye on Entertainment takes a look.

Eye-opener

"Munich" stars Eric Bana as Avner, recruited by the mysterious Ephraim (Geoffrey Rush) to be part of a secret Israeli squad set up to kill the Munich assassins. Avner, along with his cohorts Carl (Ciaran Hinds), Robert (Mathieu Kassovitz), Hans (Hanns Zischler) and Steve (Daniel Craig), become men without a country; as far as Ephraim and Israel are concerned, they are off the books (except for the receipts they are constantly, and amusingly, told to get).

Avner finds a contact named Louis (Mathieu Amalric), a defiantly unaffiliated source who supplies information on where the Palestinians may be. But, Louis makes clear, he and his family play no favorites; they help whoever they want, as long as the price is right.

Eventually, as they travel from country to country, Avner and his colleagues can't figure out what -- or who -- to trust. They're not supposed to kill anyone but the Munich assassins -- family is off-limits -- but the longer they go, the sloppier they get.

Avner's own experiences begin to make him paranoid. He has a wife and a new baby. Is he doing the right thing, and if so, for whom?

The script, credited to Kushner and Eric Roth ("Ali," "Forrest Gump"), bears Kushner's stamp of weaving philosophical and historical references with occasional dark Jewish humor. One can sense the presence of "Angels in America's" angry angel -- and its thoughtful rabbi.

How all this will play to America -- particularly one facing its own war on terrorism -- is anyone's guess. But it already has the country talking.

"Munich" opens Friday in selected cities, with an expansion in January.

On screen

This being Christmas weekend -- followed by a vacation week for many people -- movies are flooding the multiplex. Already opened: "Cheaper by the Dozen 2" and "Fun With Dick & Jane," the former of which was scorched by critics

, the latter the recipient of lukewarm reviews.

Friday sees the release of "The Ringer," starring Johnny Knoxville as a guy who enters the Special Olympics. Overseen by the Farrelly brothers.

On Sunday, Christmas Day, Jennifer Aniston and Shirley MacLaine star in "Rumor Has It ...," about a woman who wonders if her family was the basis for "The Graduate" (with MacLaine as the possible Mrs. Robinson). Kevin Costner plays the presumed Benjamin Braddock, who's actually a lot closer to the character as pictured in Charles Webb's novel, a blond California type. (Robert Redford was considered for the Braddock role in 1967, which eventually went to Dustin Hoffman.) Directed by Rob Reiner, who could use a hit.

Also out Sunday: "Wolf Creek," a horror film from Australia; and "The New World," Terrence Malick's version of the Pocahontas tale, starring Colin Farrell.

Finally, on Wednesday, Woody Allen's new film, "Match Point," opens in New York and Los Angeles. It's being touted as a return to form -- dark "Crimes and Misdemeanors" form, not "Sleeper" earlier-funnier form -- for Allen. The work stars Scarlett Johansson and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers.

On the tube

Seems like just a couple weeks ago I was touting NBC's airing of "It's a Wonderful Life." Well, here's your last chance to see it on network TV, if you so desire -- it's on at 8 p.m. ET Saturday. At least, I think it's the last chance.

For anyone who loves Wallace and Gromit -- or anything else from Nick Park's amazing Aardman factory -- there's "Creature Comforts," in which Claymation animals talk about Christmas. 10:30 p.m. ET Friday, BBC America.

Sound waves

"Chapter One: 1997-2004," a best-of for Sevendust, hits the racks Tuesday.

Paging readers

It's hard to resist a book called "The Idler Book of Crap Jobs" (Harper), presented by the Web site specializing in "the disgruntled, disillusioned and dismayed," according to Idler editor Tom Hodgkinson. (The book is edited by Dan Kieran.) Among those jobs: pea checker (yes, watching a conveyor belt of peas), aquarium cashier and sigmoidoscope cleaner. (What's a sigmoidoscope? Look it up

.) It's out Tuesday.

Video center

"Grizzly Man," Werner Herzog's documentary about a man who thought he had a better relationship with bears than he actually did, comes out on DVD Tuesday.

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