After an eight month delay The Debt, the latest film from Academy Award winning director John Madden (Shakespeare in Love), is finally seeing the light of day, but it is difficult to argue that we have been missing out. The film follows the attempted kidnap and extradition of Dieter Vogel (Jesper Christensen), the fictional ‘Surgeon of Birkenau’, by a team of three Mossad agents in 1965 and their efforts to atone for their actions 32 years later.

By no means is this film awful, but it is distinctly average, an assessment that reveals its disappointing nature given the calibre of some of those associated with it. The writers, best known for Kick-Ass, have reached much greater heights and, although well shot it is certainly not one of Madden’s best films. As always Helen Mirren (Rachael Singer) gives an impressive performance in the principal role, as does her younger counterpart (Jessica Chastain). Nevertheless a series of wavering accents (demonstrated most aptly by Sam Worthington), generic character types, and highly predictable character arcs, or in some cases non-existent character arcs, mean that a few good performances cannot save what is essentially a dull film.

As another member of the audience commented “it dragged on a bit”, aptly summarising the sentiments of many, which is saying something for a film of only 113 minutes. If you particularly enjoy thrillers or are a fan of one of the actors it might be worth watching; however there are much better films out at the moment if you are merely looking for a nice evening at the cinema.