Eli Cohen's story has been around for quite a while. A hero of great stature in Israel he deserves a fitting film biography. This isn't it. This is a low risk venture that avoids the deeper truths of the story. The focus is on Cohen the hero, dutiful (if absent) husband, doting (if absent) father, spy extraordinaire. Missing is the playboy businessman (reputedly going through 17 mistresses), and the reckless spy who all but telegraphed his own demise.
S.B. Cohen does a decent job, but his acting skills do little justice to the complexity of the man. It's main purpose seems to be to propagandize Israel's Mossad, and Israel's honor. That's O.K. but it's the smaller story. The bigger story; the psychological tension of a man living a double identity, where a mistake would be fatal is barely explored.
