Munich (DVD, 2006, Widescreen)

This is a movie that gets under your skin. Built around the aftermath of the massacre of Israeli atheletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics, the film focuses on its effects on a group of agents who are assigned to strike back. This takes a toll on their leader, Avner, played by Eric Bana, who begins to question the ethics and effectiveness of what they are doing.
Avner belongs to a generation of sons and daughters of Holocaust survivors living in a country surrounded by enemies who have vowed to wipe them from the face of the earth. It's a viable threat in light of their history and a recent wound. The ghosts of victims he'll never know drives Avner and the birth of his first child provides him his only real hope for the future.

Steven Spielberg doesn't take the easy way out. He looks at the issues from several vantage points and opens a dialogue on the politics of revenge. Spielberg seems to do his best work when it comes from the heart as it did with "Schlinder's List." He was criticized from several parties for venturing out of a strict politically correct viewpoint with this thought provoking and controversial exploration of a very complex issue.

In the end there are no easy answers and we leave the film as shaken as Avner, but maybe with a bit more understanding.