The Interpreter (B- or 2.5/4 stars)
It's sometimes hard to interpret what's going on in 'The Interpreter', a drama/thriller/action film directed by Sydney Pollack (he even makes a cameo). Pollack has produced some great films such as The Way We Were, Tootsie, Out of Africa, & The Firm. On paper, 'The Interpreter' looked to be another great film, but I was ultimately disappointed. The overwhelming theme of this film is solving political unrest by other means than violence. Pollack shifts much of the storyline on the main characters & their back stories, rather than what was actually going on in the plot.
Silvia Broome (Nicole Kidman) has escaped her war-torn nation (Matobo, Africa) & hopes to find solace in the U.N., of all places. She enlists as an interpreter/translator for her nation, speaking Ku. This way, she can serve her country well, & not have to be there for all the genocide. One night, Silvia goes into the U.N. to retrieve something she left there earlier in the day. She overhears a plan to assassinate the dictator of Matobo, President Zuwani (he's no good, and may deserve what his dissidents are plotting for). Silvia is slow to react. And an entire day goes by before she reports what she heard to the feds. Agent Toby Keller (Sean Penn) & Woods (Catherine Keener) are assigned to her case. And with deserved skepticism, they don't believe Silvia's story. It all seems too coincidental that she heard what she heard coming from the mouths of her own few people in (fictional) Ku language of (fictional) Matobo. Slowly, & I mean slowly, Silvia & Toby start to understand each other, trust each other, & even find common ground, as both recently dealt with personal tragedy in their own lives.
I like movies of this ilk. And I enjoyed seeing the growth of each character as well as the parallel growth of the relationships as they try to stop this assassination from rearing its' head. But it is all too much. Thrillers rely on action & unpredictability … but this film is too predictable. And in thrillers, action is dominant & we rarely see much depth in the characters. Instead of falling into THIS trap, Pollack goes too much in the other direction. We are overwhelmed with the characters & become antsy to see/feel more action, suspense & tension. I was almost surprised when a scene became intense!
There is one fantastic action sequence where there is a bomb on a bus carrying several of the major characters. The fate of each person on that bus, along with the people standing helplessly nearby was pending, & it was riveting. The scene is a perfect culmination of drama, acting, writing, editing, suspense, & action. I wish there was more of this in the film, particularly at the climax. You see, script is solid, at times; sloppy at others. The acting is brilliant, at times; then it is sub-par. I was interested, then disinterested, then woken-up by a burst of energy, & then lulled by never-ending scenes. There is too much backing-&-forthing for over 2 hours. I saw flashes of great things in the film, but I was also distracted by the variance in moods throughout.
Nicole Kidman & Sean Penn deliver solid performances; especially Penn. While his role ventures into the realm of being cliché (cop suffering from recent personal tragedy, so he throws himself into his work to distract him from mourning), he still makes the role fresh and as human as possible. But again, I saw so much of these two on screen that I almost forgot about the supporting characters, or what the film was ultimately about; not great.
As Kevin notes in his review, 2004's The Manchurian Candidate came to mind as the opening credits of this film reeled. It is a political thriller; and very successful at what it wants to accomplish. It has everything; super screenplay, all-star cast, realistic storyline, great performances, semblance of plot, follow-through of plot, climax, etc. And I had a sneaky suspicion that 'The Interpreter' would come up a bit shorter than that. I wasn't disappointed because I had a feeling the film wouldn't grab me (based on mediocre reviews universally), but I wasn't blown out of my seat by greatness, either. Overall, while I liked the film enough for recommendation, it lacks some excitement, & relies way too much on languorous dialogue.
Silvia Broome (Nicole Kidman) has escaped her war-torn nation (Matobo, Africa) & hopes to find solace in the U.N., of all places. She enlists as an interpreter/translator for her nation, speaking Ku. This way, she can serve her country well, & not have to be there for all the genocide. One night, Silvia goes into the U.N. to retrieve something she left there earlier in the day. She overhears a plan to assassinate the dictator of Matobo, President Zuwani (he's no good, and may deserve what his dissidents are plotting for). Silvia is slow to react. And an entire day goes by before she reports what she heard to the feds. Agent Toby Keller (Sean Penn) & Woods (Catherine Keener) are assigned to her case. And with deserved skepticism, they don't believe Silvia's story. It all seems too coincidental that she heard what she heard coming from the mouths of her own few people in (fictional) Ku language of (fictional) Matobo. Slowly, & I mean slowly, Silvia & Toby start to understand each other, trust each other, & even find common ground, as both recently dealt with personal tragedy in their own lives.
I like movies of this ilk. And I enjoyed seeing the growth of each character as well as the parallel growth of the relationships as they try to stop this assassination from rearing its' head. But it is all too much. Thrillers rely on action & unpredictability … but this film is too predictable. And in thrillers, action is dominant & we rarely see much depth in the characters. Instead of falling into THIS trap, Pollack goes too much in the other direction. We are overwhelmed with the characters & become antsy to see/feel more action, suspense & tension. I was almost surprised when a scene became intense!
There is one fantastic action sequence where there is a bomb on a bus carrying several of the major characters. The fate of each person on that bus, along with the people standing helplessly nearby was pending, & it was riveting. The scene is a perfect culmination of drama, acting, writing, editing, suspense, & action. I wish there was more of this in the film, particularly at the climax. You see, script is solid, at times; sloppy at others. The acting is brilliant, at times; then it is sub-par. I was interested, then disinterested, then woken-up by a burst of energy, & then lulled by never-ending scenes. There is too much backing-&-forthing for over 2 hours. I saw flashes of great things in the film, but I was also distracted by the variance in moods throughout.
Nicole Kidman & Sean Penn deliver solid performances; especially Penn. While his role ventures into the realm of being cliché (cop suffering from recent personal tragedy, so he throws himself into his work to distract him from mourning), he still makes the role fresh and as human as possible. But again, I saw so much of these two on screen that I almost forgot about the supporting characters, or what the film was ultimately about; not great.
As Kevin notes in his review, 2004's The Manchurian Candidate came to mind as the opening credits of this film reeled. It is a political thriller; and very successful at what it wants to accomplish. It has everything; super screenplay, all-star cast, realistic storyline, great performances, semblance of plot, follow-through of plot, climax, etc. And I had a sneaky suspicion that 'The Interpreter' would come up a bit shorter than that. I wasn't disappointed because I had a feeling the film wouldn't grab me (based on mediocre reviews universally), but I wasn't blown out of my seat by greatness, either. Overall, while I liked the film enough for recommendation, it lacks some excitement, & relies way too much on languorous dialogue.