Golda

Paying homage to a countrys great leader is certainly a worthy and noble undertaking, but, when it comes to director Guy Nattivs would-be tribute to Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir (Helen Mirren), the film comes up far short of what it could have been. The film focuses on Meirs handling of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, when the nation was on the brink of collapse from surprise (though strongly anticipated) attacks by Egypt and Syria, largely as retribution for their territorial losses in the 1967 Six-Day War, with significant support from the Soviet Union. The picture presents a detailed by-the-numbers account of the conflict, including Meirs involvement with her top military advisors and with US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (Liev Schrei...

I suppose this might have been a little bit more interesting if I had known more about the 'Yom Kippur" war that threatened the still quite fledgling state of Israel. With Egypt and Syria massing huge numbers of troops and tanks on the borders, it falls to the Israeli prime minister Golda Meir (Dame Helen Mirren) to galvanise her hugely outnumbered population and to work with her legendary defence minster Moshe Dayan (Rami Heuberger) to stave off this overwhelming force long enough for her to convince American Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (an almost unrecognisable Liev Schreiber) and his boss Richard Nixon to brave the threats from the Soviets and the Saudis and come to her aid. What's annoying about this film is the astonishing lack ...