The Operative (2019)

A woman recruited by the Mossad to work undercover in Tehran.

Director:

Yuval Adler

Writer:

Yuval Adler

Stars:

Diane Kruger, Martin Freeman, Cas Anvar

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Diane Kruger	...	Rachel
Martin Freeman	...	Thomas
Cas Anvar	...	Farhad
Rotem Keinan	...	Daniel
Lana Ettinger	...	Operative #2
Yoav Levi	...	Operative #1
Yohanan Herson	...	Joe
Kate Nichols	...	Beatrice
Daniel Wandelt	...	Max
Julia Schneider	...	Woman in line
Gal Friedman	...	Operative #3
Ohad Knoller	...	Stephen
Barnaby Metschurat	...	Operative #4
Bastian Volkmer	...	Bodyguard Röska
Doron Tsabari	...	Ronnie

Storyline

A woman recruited by the Mossad to work undercover in Tehran.

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Genres:

Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA Israel

Language:

English German Persian Hebrew

Release Date:

17 July 2019 (France)

Also Known As:

Die Agentin

Company Credits

Production Co:

Black Bear Pictures, Bord Cadre Films, Le Pacte

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Color:

Color

User Reviews

Well intentioned but disappointing in the long run.

When a young woman is recruited by the Mossad, she is sent to Tehran to work undercover. However she soon warms to the place and people and this may risk not only her career but also the plans of her employers. The Operative is one of those slow spy thrillers, it takes its time to build the characters and attempts are made to connect audiences to Diane Kruger's character. However the actual presentation of the story has some real pacing issues where I lost the plot many times. I get that this is meant to be a character driven film. But film makers such as Polanski (Chinatown) and Sydney Pollack (Three Days of the Condor) have shown that the plot can take a backseat for characters. But there was still considerable amount of strings being pulled in the background to make it work. The stories were complex because there were many details that need to be uncovered. The Operative is convoluted because there is very little within the story and therefore the film makers try to hide that by dragging scenes out. By having scenes that are completely pointless. Diane Kruger is an extremely talented actress and this may actually be her best performance of her career. Her character is relatable to audiences but mysterious for them to ask the question who she really is. The rest of the cast feels rather wasted with other players including Martin Freeman, pop in and out of the picture. The movie on a technical level is competent but nothing shows of a unique vision. This makes The Operative feel like a generic spy caper that isn't even exciting. Perhaps if you browse by this film on Netflix and have nothing else to do, The Operative might be a film for that occasion. Otherwise, no recommendation from me.