The true story of Operation Mincemeat, an elaborate ruse to trick Hitler into moving his troops away from Sicily so the Allies can attack. Starring Colin Firth, Matthew Macfadyen, Kelly Macdonald and Penelope Wilton. This is also the final acting role of actor Paul Ritter before his death from a brain tumour in the same year and the film is dedicated to his memory.
Not related to the musical of the same name which covers the same material in a much more comedic manner. See also The Man Who Never Was, a British film from 1956 that told the same story.
This film provides examples of:
- All Germans Are Nazis: Used by British intelligence and even Churchill to dismiss reports of a German resistance fighting against Hitler from inside his ranks.
- Bluff the Eavesdropper: The British operative in Spain knows very well that his lines are tapped by the Nazis. He ensures they are desperate to read what is in the briefcase by making frantic calls to Spanish officials demanding the contents be returned immediately.
- Corpse Temperature Tampering: The doctor providing the body for Captain Martin tells the team that he can keep the body refrigerated to slow decomposition, but he gives them a timeline for how long they have to use it before even that won’t fool anyone.
- Cutting the Knot: After numerous efforts to create a set of plausible looking fake orders to put in "Captain Martin"'s dispatch case, Ewen eventually decides to get a perfect set by going to the General whose orders they are forging, reading him in on Mincemeat, and asking him to write up the fake orders himself. Said dispatches are almost identical to Ewen's first rejected draft.
- "Dear John" Letter: Teased. Ewen’s wife only writes to her friend, Hester and not to him. When she finally does write to him, it seems like it will be one of these. The epilogue reveals that they reconciled after the war and remained married for the rest of his life.
- Death Notification: The kindly nurse who tended Glyndwr Michael on his deathbed unknowingly complicates the plot by tracking down his only living relative who then tries to claim the body.
- Driven to Suicide: Glyndwr Michael died from ingesting rat poison. Although he never says a word to hospital staff, it is assumed it was on purpose.
- Due to the Dead: Charles’ mother is desperate to bring his brother’s body home from the front for a proper burial. Glyndwr Michael also finally gets his own name on his tombstone fifty years after his burial when the operation is declassified.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Ewen and his brother Ivor. Ewen is a high ranking officer in the military while his brother flits from one thing to the next and leeches off his brother’s success. Ewen even scoffs at the accusation of Ivor being a communist spy, stating he simply doesn’t have the attention span.
- Foregone Conclusion: Anyone with a basic knowledge of World War II history knows the Allied invasion of Sicily was a success. The drama of the film comes from how we get there.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Charles is very obviously infatuated with Jean and highly resents how close she is getting to Ewen. It leads him to cruelly and bluntly tell her he is married and suggest he’s just toying with her. The upset is part of the reason she transfers.
- Her Heart Will Go On: Jean is a war widow and obviously loved her husband very much. However, she has moved on with her life and is casually dating.
- Leaving You to Find Myself: After finding out Ewen is married, Jean asks for a transfer to a more active position away from London. She does not return before the end of the film.
- Of Corpse He's Alive: In a sequence of dark humor, they try to take an ID picture of the corpse to create Captain Martin’s fake credentials. No matter how they try to pose the body, it’s very obvious he’s dead.
- Oh, Crap!: The entire plan to get fake documents into the hands of German officers hinges on the village police where the drowned body is to be discovered being corrupt, the coroner being inexperienced so he cannot tell the body is a suicide, and the local officials being friendly to the Germans over Britain. The corrupt police were recently purged, the local coroner died so they brought in a university professor specializing in drownings to fill his post, and the local official tells the British official that he can just take the documents and leave, and he won't even report the matter to his higher ups because he hates them. The British official there to "retrieve" the body makes a number of subtle oh crap faces as each twist happens in very short order.
- Posthumous Character: As the plan hinges on having a dead body, Glyndwr Michael is dead from the time he is presented to the team. We only see him alive in a brief flashback to his deathbed.
- Running Gag: It seems half the men in British Intelligence are writing spy novels. No one seems particularly enthused when that Fleming chap tries his hand at it.
- Smells of Death: As Captain Martin had been in the water for a while and then transferred by donkey cart, he’s pretty ripe when he’s brought in to Spanish officials. The British officer present at the autopsy uses the stench as an excuse to halt the autopsy when he finds out the coroner is a specialist in drownings and will immediately spot the ruse if allowed to continue.
- Tempting Fate: Early in the film, the team mentions that "Captain Martin" would obviously not have signs of drowning even after being in the water (and decomposing) for some time, but a coroner who specializes in drowning cases is extremely rare and a normal coroner would probably overlook them. In the final act, one of the British spies on the field is forced to do some Xanatos Speed Chess when the Spanish police bring a coroner who boasts of being specialized in drowning cases to evaluate the "Captain"'s body.
- The Un-Favorite: Charles has a dead war hero of a brother to compete with while his mother believes he is “just a clerk” who doesn’t have enough power to get his brother’s remains repatriated.
- "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: Being a historical piece, the ending gives summaries of the lives and careers of the characters after the operation ended.