The International
1.5/4
Starring: Clive Owen, Naomi Watts, Ulrich Thomsen, Armin Mueller-Stahl
Rated R for Some Sequences of Violence and Language
Boy, the hipsters are going to love this. A conspiracy thriller about a world bank causing wars for their own gain...that's gotta be right up their alley. They may be the only ones who like it (although it is "...mainstream"), however. This is an incredibly lame thriller with no characters, very little action and a plot that doesn't make much sense.
Ever since "Run Lola Run" made a smash in the arthouses, everyone wondered when Tom Tykwer was going to make an action movie. His kinetic visual style, fast pace and sure hand for creating adrenaline made him a possible new wunderboy for action movies. But Tykwer never went down this road. He made "The Princess and The Warrior" with his "Lola" star, Franka Potente, the first film in Krzysztof Kieslowski's unfilmed trilogy (Heaven, Hell and Purgatory...his "Heaven" starred Cate Blanchett and Giovanni Ribisi), and the film version of Patrick Suskind's beloved (although I couldn't finish it) novel "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer" with Ben Wishaw. Evidently, "The International" wasn't meant to be an action film, but after disastrous test screenings and reshoots to turn it into an action flick, it was released in February 2009, during the Great Recession (oh, the ironies...). All this doesn't help the fact that the movie is crap.
This movie is so boring that by the end of it I couldn't remember where it started. Interpol agent Louis Salinger (Owen) and New York Assistant District Attorney Ella Whitman (Watts) are investigating the International Bank of Business and Credit, which is the go-to bank for all sorts of criminal enterprises. The bank is involved in a major purchase of missiles, and Salinger & Whitman want to stop it. Unfortunately every potential witness or informant has the tendency to turn up dead.
For the better part of an hour, the plot makes little sense even though it's fairly simple upon reflection. Tykwer doesn't give as a chance to be fully introduced to the characters, and the writing by Eric Singer is sloppy. But even when things become clear, it becomes apparent how lame this story actually is. Don't get me wrong, I love conspiracy thrillers and action movies, but even when bankers and finance bigwigs caused this economy to tank (this was pure dumb luck for the movie...even if anyone had heard about it, I doubt it would have made half as much money if the economy didn't suck), this movie still blows.
Clive Owen and Naomi Watts needn't worry. Their talents are of use in other projects, so this is really just a movie they'd rather forget (except for the healthy paycheck, of course). Neither one of them looks particularly interested. Ulrich Thomsen is an okay villain, but it would have been a real casting coup to get Richard Fuld, the head of the Lehmen Brothers to star. I don't know if he can act, but he's definitely more hatable. Armin Mueller-Stahl is underused, but like all good actors who don't get enough roles, at least he's in it.
Tykwer does what he can to keep the energy level up, but that sometimes works against the film. There are times when I wished he would slow down so I could actually figure out what was going on. The one good scene, a shoot-out at the Guggenheim museum, is okay, but it should have been better. Methinks that Erick Singer started with that idea and built around it. Pity it's all crap.
Starring: Clive Owen, Naomi Watts, Ulrich Thomsen, Armin Mueller-Stahl
Rated R for Some Sequences of Violence and Language
Boy, the hipsters are going to love this. A conspiracy thriller about a world bank causing wars for their own gain...that's gotta be right up their alley. They may be the only ones who like it (although it is "...mainstream"), however. This is an incredibly lame thriller with no characters, very little action and a plot that doesn't make much sense.
Ever since "Run Lola Run" made a smash in the arthouses, everyone wondered when Tom Tykwer was going to make an action movie. His kinetic visual style, fast pace and sure hand for creating adrenaline made him a possible new wunderboy for action movies. But Tykwer never went down this road. He made "The Princess and The Warrior" with his "Lola" star, Franka Potente, the first film in Krzysztof Kieslowski's unfilmed trilogy (Heaven, Hell and Purgatory...his "Heaven" starred Cate Blanchett and Giovanni Ribisi), and the film version of Patrick Suskind's beloved (although I couldn't finish it) novel "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer" with Ben Wishaw. Evidently, "The International" wasn't meant to be an action film, but after disastrous test screenings and reshoots to turn it into an action flick, it was released in February 2009, during the Great Recession (oh, the ironies...). All this doesn't help the fact that the movie is crap.
This movie is so boring that by the end of it I couldn't remember where it started. Interpol agent Louis Salinger (Owen) and New York Assistant District Attorney Ella Whitman (Watts) are investigating the International Bank of Business and Credit, which is the go-to bank for all sorts of criminal enterprises. The bank is involved in a major purchase of missiles, and Salinger & Whitman want to stop it. Unfortunately every potential witness or informant has the tendency to turn up dead.
For the better part of an hour, the plot makes little sense even though it's fairly simple upon reflection. Tykwer doesn't give as a chance to be fully introduced to the characters, and the writing by Eric Singer is sloppy. But even when things become clear, it becomes apparent how lame this story actually is. Don't get me wrong, I love conspiracy thrillers and action movies, but even when bankers and finance bigwigs caused this economy to tank (this was pure dumb luck for the movie...even if anyone had heard about it, I doubt it would have made half as much money if the economy didn't suck), this movie still blows.
Clive Owen and Naomi Watts needn't worry. Their talents are of use in other projects, so this is really just a movie they'd rather forget (except for the healthy paycheck, of course). Neither one of them looks particularly interested. Ulrich Thomsen is an okay villain, but it would have been a real casting coup to get Richard Fuld, the head of the Lehmen Brothers to star. I don't know if he can act, but he's definitely more hatable. Armin Mueller-Stahl is underused, but like all good actors who don't get enough roles, at least he's in it.
Tykwer does what he can to keep the energy level up, but that sometimes works against the film. There are times when I wished he would slow down so I could actually figure out what was going on. The one good scene, a shoot-out at the Guggenheim museum, is okay, but it should have been better. Methinks that Erick Singer started with that idea and built around it. Pity it's all crap.
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