The Interpreter (Widescreen Edition)
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Movie Reviews of The Interpreter (Widescreen Edition)
Movie Review: Against Interpretation
Summary: 4 Stars
Nicole Kidman might have never looked so beautiful as she did playing the haunted UN interpreter Silvia Broome. And Sean Penn has this masculine arrogance that somehow holds her attention long enough for her to forget about her pressing problems concerning Africa. I saw this film again last night on cable TV and it was much more confusing the second time around. Probably should invest in the DVD so I could access the deleted scenes which (maybe) explain everything. There must be deleted scenes like crazy involving Catherine Keener talking to her agent and listening to the agent explain why she really needed to be in this movie, for they might as well have hired Nicole Richie so little acting ability was needed for her brief scenes with Penn. Keener's mumbling, thin lipped accent made Nicole Kidman sound almost human.
Director Sydney Pollack must have felt bells clicking in his head when he glimpsed Nicole Kidman and heard a tape of the various accents she has essayed on screen. Not since Meryl Streep has anyone done so many so promiscously, and it is said that Pollack forcefed Kidman hours worth of tapes of Meryl Streep doing the famous "I had a farm in Africa" opening to OUT OF AFRICA, of which I now consider THE INTERPRETER an unoffical remake. The implication is that Kidman, and her doomed family the Broomes, are the real inheritors of Africa, and that the black revolutions and counterrevolutions that have destroyed the Broomes are hopelessly evil and subhuman. Why, Nicole, why? Maybe you wanted to show you weren't afraid of big issues, but why play an African saint when so many talented black actresses were out there just longing for a big meaty part opposite Sean Penn--and many of them much more able to adopt a whispery Danish slash Dutch accent than you (not to mention playing the flute). Do the DVD scenes tell us why the screenwriters decided to have her play the flute anyhow? Was it just to get her back into the building after hours?
Couldn't she have just forgotten her Metro Card or her purse or something? No, no, it had to be musical--tragically musical. John Garfield spent four months at Juilliard learning to play the piano for HUMORESQUE (1946), but Nicole Kidman learned the flute in under forty-five minutes on the set of MOULIN ROUGE. Ah, the pace of modern filmmaking! No wonder she seems to make even more movies than the stars of the Golden Age Hollywood cinema.
Movie Review: surprisingly good
Summary: 4 Stars
I saw this movie at the end of its run in the movie theaters. My husband & son were not interested but I was intrigued by the reviews I had read so I went by myself. I do not care for gratuitous violence in movies. A really good movie, in the opinion of the men in my life, must have a violent death in the first 60 seconds and 25-30 violent scenes total -- car crashes, murders, blown up buildings, fight scenes. There is violence in this movie but it is not gratuitous and I found the movie much less violent than I expected. An explosion and murders occur but they are the type of violence that would happen if this film was relating a real life African political intrigue. The African political situation at the core of this movie is plausible which is more than can be said about the plots of many other movies. I thought the screen play for this movie was both well written and true to life. (I don't mean to imply implausible is the necessarily the same as bad-- some of the best movies ever are completely implausible.)
Nicole Kidman's character, a UN interpreter who is expert in African dialects, returns to her booth to pick up an item left behind. The UN floor appears to be empty but she inadvertently overhears a conversation about a planned assassination of the current leader of an African nation , a man who is due to make an appearance at the UN. The African nation is the one in which her family lived; she grew up there. She reports the overheard conversation to the FBI. The FBI, especially a grieving agent played by Sean Penn, does not believe her. They investigate her and find in her past life in Africa many reasons to doubt her story. However, they must investigate the planned assassination anyway even if they think it is bogus. It soon becomes clear as unexpected (some violent) events begin to take place surrounding the interpreter that something is going on although the FBI agent played by Sean Penn is unsure whether it is a real African based assassination plot or the interpreter reported the conversation to throw off suspicion from herself for something she is planning. At the same time, he finds himself drawn to her, the first woman who has interested him since the death of his wife. Nicole Kidman brings to her role the sort of class and reserve one would imagine a UN interpreter to possess. I found Sean Penn's tortured FBI agent portrayal sympathetic and very Sean Penn-ish. (I must admit I do not believe FBI agents are really so dishevelled looking. Perhaps I am just assuming as truth that FBI agents are "men in black.")
I enjoyed all of the plot twists (there ARE many) in this story, the unfolding of the mystery behind the overheard conversation, how it relates to the interpreter's past, the rise and fall of leaders in the African nation. This story was more layered than most thrillers (I have seen them; one can't help it with the men in my life). I would not call it a thriller at all, but a political mystery. It's a very good mystery movie and an unusual one. The movie is set in New York City and partially in Africa. The movie addresses political corruption and legal ethics (which crimes might be justifiable, which crimes should be punished). The UN scenes are fascinating to someone (like me) with an interest in world politics. If you have such an interest too, you may enjoy this movie as I did.
BTW on nit-picking reviews: I have noticed some negative reviewers who have nit-picked the movie to justify their thumbs down for it (one review: chess board mistake, "booger" sighting). My husband, too, likes to pick out nits in the movies he did not like. Recently, I have been drawing his attention to the nits in the movies he loves: a little reminder that there are unbelievable situations and errors in his favorite movies too. His attitude is "so what?" I guess we honestly do not mind nits in the movies we like and they loom large and overwhelming in the movies we hate. And then there are the movies that are so bad, no one likes them! Still I would like to see negative reviews that explain more fully why the reviewer did not like the movie. It would be more helpful to amazon customers.
Movie Review: Excellent Example of Kidman's Poor Acting Chops
Summary: 2 Stars
The over rated Kidman could not nail a proper accent so her accent is from a non-existent country, which is what directors have to do when they have hired a marginally talented performer. Sadly Kidman has very little to show us that has not been seen over and over again as Hollywood keeps selling her as a talented actor. If one focuses on Sean Penn trying to keep a straight face by pretending he actually cares about her character and if one buys into the ludicrous plot, one can be entertained by this movie while drunk.Movie Review: Utter Garbage
Summary: 1 Stars
Most Hollywood products are designed to indoctrinate the audience in one way or another. The main propaganda punch line for this move is this: People who work for government agencies are intelligent, kind, ethical, emotionally mature, trustworthy and have your best interests at heart. The US is a beacon of light, goodness, equality and justice. Movie Review: Sophisticated political thriller
Summary: 4 Stars
The premise in this tightly wrought thriller directed by the very accomplished Sydney Pollack is that Zuwanie (Earl Cameron) the old dictator (once "freedom fighter") of an African nation called "Matobo" is coming to New York to make a speech in front of the General Assembly of the United Nations. Silvia Broome (Nicole Kidman), an interpreter at the UN, overhears part of a conversation after-hours that leads her to believe that there will be an assassination attempt on the leader's life. She tells security. Federal agent Tobin Keller (Sean Penn) is called in to investigate and help prevent an assassination.
Keller quickly discovers that Silvia is from Matobo where her parents were murdered by some of Zuwanie's henchmen and where she was subsequently involved in some political/paramilitary activities. Two questions that Keller must answer are, does she have some sort of motive to lie and how is she involved?
The problem with the film (aside from some of the usual improbabilities and contortions found in Hollywood thrillers--and to be honest there weren't that many in this one) is the ending. Without giving anything away, the probability of Zumanie being left alone after what had happened is something like zero. But the real problem is what happens between Tobin and Silvia at the end. They are both very available and after they have had the opportunity to bond under very difficult circumstances, can you guess how their relationship is resolved? I understand there was an alternative ending. Maybe Pollack should have employed it.
Pollack's films going back several decades are characterized by diversity of subject matter, excellent scripts, and star power. Four of his best are They Shoot Horses Don't They? (1969) (depression ear dance marathon drama starring Jane Fonda); Tootsie (1982) (romantic comedy starring Dustin Hoffman); Out of Africa (1985) (adapted from the famous book by Karen Blixen under her pen name "Isak Dinesen," starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford); and Sabrina (1995) (splendid remake of the Audrey Hepburn film this time starring Julie Ormond and Harrison Ford). But he tends to like action/adventure as much as comedy or drama. He is one of filmdom's most versatile directors, and this film, while not his best, is very representative of his work.
But what carries the film is the charisma of the stars, Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman, especially Kidman who seems the very impersonation of what an interpreter at the UN might be. She manages to be delicate but tough, thoroughly professional and beautiful. I have seen her in seven or eight films and can say that she is as talented as any actress currently working. In her ability to concentrate and to completely immerse herself in a role she is comparable to Meryl Streep. Some early films of hers that display her youthful vitality and the natural sophistication and nuanced manner of her style are Dead Calm (1989), Flirting (1991), and To Die For (1995).
By the way, "Matobo" is not an actual nation but is the name of a national park in Zimbabwe and as far as I can tell "Ku" is not an actual language. (I have no idea what they were speaking.)
Bottom line: Can a film directed by Sydney Pollack starring Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn be anything but worth seeing?