In July 1976, an Air France flight from Tel-Aviv to Paris gets hijacked on a stopover in Athens. The leaders of the group are Brigitte Kuhlmann (Rosamund Pike) and book publisher Wilfried Böse (Daniel Brühl). They are German revolutionaries trying to reclaim the initiative after their group faced setbacks at home. They are joined by Palestinians looking for revenge against the Jewish state. They force the plane to fly to Entebbe, Uganda where they have friendly unstable dictator in President Idi Amin. In Israel, defense minister Shimon Peres (Eddie Marsan) pushes for aggressive action while Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is cautious in the face of overwhelming odds.
This true crime thriller is 2/3 great and 1/3 meh. Certainly, the hijacking is compelling and the two Germans are fascinating in their naive radicalism. They are over their heads as they slowly drown in the pool of their own making. Even a minor character like Idi Amin is terrific. The second great thread is the Israeli political leaders. Eddie Marsan is a great actor in a juicy role. The least compelling is the Israeli soldier and his dancer girlfriend Sarah. While her concern is still life and death, it pales in comparison to the other threads. The modern dance show is a disruption in the story flow especially in the climatic action third act. Cutting back and forth between the airport and the modern dance is simply a failed attempt at an artistic flourish. Doing the airport straight would be more intense and more compelling. Also, Netanyahu should probably be the leading soldier character in the movie rather than the kid with his girlfriend. Overall, I really like the 2/3 and the 1/3 doesn't sink it.
