From its very premise, “Munich: The Edge of War” puts itself in a precarious situation: how to make a thriller engaging for an audience who already knows the ending? Set around the Munich Agreement of 1938, in which British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (Jeremy Irons) and German leader Adolf Hitler (Ulrich Matthes) met to broker peace before impending war, viewers know the agreement would only serve as a temporary salve for the horrors that would soon come. Based on a novel by Robert Harris, adapted for the screen by Ben Power and placed into the hands of director Christian Schwochow (“The Crown”), the film centers primarily on Hugh Legat (George MacKay), a British civil servant acting as aid to the Prime Minister, and Paul von Hartmann (Jannis Niewöhner), a German diplomat. Old friends who had an ugly falling out years ago, the two cross paths again in Munich in a clandestine attempt to prevent inevitable destruction.
Similar to Tom Cruise’s 2008 vehicle “Valkyrie,” Schwochow’s film gives us a look behind the scenes at how close Hitler’s reign of terror came to being stopped before it reached the toll it did. While this comes with the potential to lose the audience in a feeling of pointlessness, it is precisely that knowledge of the ultimate fate of the mission that gives “Munich” an air of melancholy that permeates each and every scene. Early on, a discussion between Chamberlain and Legat sees the Prime Minister passionately speaking about his need to prevent another mass-scale war from taking place after the devastation of World War I. Irons has a fire that makes you truly believe this man has no idea what is about to come, resulting in a moment fueled with the character’s desperate push to stop what the audience sadly knows will soon come to pass.
It’s this complexity that allows the film to stand out beyond what is already a compelling ticking-clock narrative. Power’s script efficiently turns the screws of each moving part, as von Hartmann arrives at Munich with a secret document signaling Hitler’s true intent to wage a war of conquest across Europe. Von Hartmann plans to use his connection with Legat, an old school friend from their days at Oxford in 1932 — which we see in the film’s joyful opening that ominously hints at their future paths — to get this message to Chamberlain before it’s too late.
Adding a wrinkle to all of this is the knowledge we gain through flashbacks that Legat and von Hartmann had a falling out somewhere along the way due to von Hartmann’s blind devotion to Hitler’s cause. Drawing some not particularly subtle lines directly to a former United States President, Power illustrates how Hitler’s rallying cry of German exceptionalism pulled together a cult-like following to his cause, as even those who disagreed with his anti-semitic views would look past it due to his desire to ‘Make Germany Great Again,’ Originally a devotee to this mission statement, von Hartmann changed his tune when he realized the monster Hitler truly was, and now is ready to betray his country’s leader for the betterment of his country. “Munich” poses the question through von Hartmann of when patriotism means becoming a traitor against the powers that be, an idea that certainly can be applied many times throughout history.
To put it lightly, there is a lot going on in “Munich.” We haven’t even gotten to the fact that both leading men have women waiting for them — Jessica Brown Findlay (“Downton Abbey”) for Legat and Sandra Hüller (“Toni Erdmann,” “I’m Your Man”) for von Hartmann — though the script largely forgets about both, relegating them to typical ‘women waiting at home’ roles. There’s also August Diehl, seemingly picking up from where his “Inglourious Basterds” character left off as a Nazi who knows things aren’t quite as they seem, with his eyes fixated on Legat and von Hartmann as they try and pull off their operation in Munich.
Surprisingly, Power and Schwochow can balance out all of these myriad threads quite well — except for the women, of course — throughout most of “Munich.” There’s no difficulty in following each person’s motivations and understanding their backstories while also keeping track of the larger picture and that somber air that all of this effort is being put into a mission that will only stave off the inevitable for a little while. If anything, more time could have been given to the dilemmas existing within the characters, as a lot of their interiority is sacrificed in order to focus squarely on the driving narrative focus. It’s an understandable excision, as the film already feels a bit too beefy at 130 minutes. Still, it makes for characters who feel too mechanical in service of the storyline, as opposed to being living, breathing humans we are meant to invest in personally.
One benefit to help make up for this is the casting, particularly when it comes to George MacKay, who continues to prove himself an adept leading man in a variety of parts. Heading back into World War territory after a brief excursion into being a “Wolf,” MacKay is a refreshingly unconventional lead as Legat. This young man Legat is certainly no Tom Cruise — he’s not the pinnacle of efficiency who knows what he’s doing every step of the way. Legat is awkward, in way over his head, but his unerring need to do the right thing and protect people shines through, even when he has to keep secrets from his wife, which you can tell pulls at his heart. It’s a great performance that elevates the character above what’s somewhat lacking on the page and certainly could have faltered with an actor lacking what MacKay brings to the table.
As was the case earlier this year with the Benedict Cumberbatch-starring “The Courier,” “Munich” is a sturdy mid-budget wartime drama that its studio is oddly dropping with zero fanfare and what feels like a contractually obligated release right at the bare end of the awards-qualifying calendar. Admittedly, the film’s impressive balancing act comes a little off the heels in the final act, as periphery characters become more important in ways that don’t entirely connect with the plot we’ve been following up to this point. Still, there’s more than enough going well here to warrant a better release than a total dump on Netflix in January, where no one will even be aware of its existence. [B-]