Mirren mesmerizes in thinking-man's thriller

There’s usually no point to a remake. No artistic point, anyway — there’s no denying that many of them make money. “The Debt,” however, gets a pass. John Madden’s new film is a remake of the 2007 Israeli film of the same name, which was never released in the United States. Its story is so compelling and the substance so incisive, we should applaud Madden for bringing a more accessible version of it to American audiences.

Madden’s thinking-man’s thriller is well-executed, a film filled with controlled tension whose eruptions are rarely expected. The film was inspired by the capture of Adolf Eichmann in Argentina in 1960, but it’s an entirely different drama.