(Review originally written at 9 October 2005)
I heard lots of positive things about "The Interpreter" and expected a good tense thriller. "The Interpreter" however turned out to be a rather messy movie with an unclear story.
It wasn't clear from the beginning were the movie was heading to. The movie is lacking a real main plot line and seems to consist only out of some side-plot lines thrown together to make a movie. The movie isn't really interesting to watch cause we never get to care about the characters. Nicole Kidman's character remains too mysterious and unpredictable to connect to and Sean Penn plays a standard typical US Secret Service agent role, who recently lost his wife. Nothing new here. Yes, of course Kidman and Penn are great actors and a great as well in their roles but still they don't succeed in giving the movie a humane, realistic face. It really isn't their fault, it simply is the incoherent script that obviously went through many rewrites, that ruined all of the movie its potential.
Sydney Pollack (he also plays a small uncredited role in the movie) is a great actor-director but he isn't an awful good storyteller. Most of the scene's don't really feel connected and almost every scene has a kind of 'unclear' feeling. I say 'unclear' because it's 'unclear' in some of the scene's were they're heading to and what their purpose in the story is. Some moments simply don't connect and/or don't feel right.
Still the movie is somewhat saved and carried by Penn and Kidman. Especially Penn is great in his role, as always.
The movie is professionally looking and is made with lots of talent and flair but it simply is the story that makes this movie nothing more than an average thriller. Yes, it certainly is a watchable movie but I most definitely won't recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone.
A disappointment. Still (political)thriller fans will find some pleasure in watching this movie. Don't expect to be blown away by it though.
6/10
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