The time would certainly seem to be right for a film about how banks are evil and duplicitous, but “The International” has a slight problem. Good timing, bad movie.
Clive Owen plays an Interpol agent on the trail of a giant bank conspiracy. The bank’s mission statement includes murder.
The film’s opening sequence — a mysterious killing witnessed by Owen in broad daylight — is intriguing, and we haven’t had an Interpol agent as a movie hero since the Cold War, so we’re off to a good start.
But trying to follow the plotline after this is more work than I could handle, especially considering the slumber-inducing script by Eric Singer.
For some reason, although the bank plot covers the globe, Owen’s agent is joined by a Manhattan assistant district attorney (Naomi Watts) for the investigation.
Granted, this does allow the film to spend some time in New York, along with its sojourns in Berlin, Milan, Istanbul and assorted ports of call. This explains the big action set-piece in New York’s Guggenheim Museum, which takes up a huge chunk of the film’s running time.
When people walk out of an action movie talking about the architecture, you’ve got a problem, and that’s probably what will happen with “The International” and its Guggenheim sequence. It’s spectacular, and Hitchcock would’ve loved created mayhem on those circular ramps, too.
Audiences won’t be talking about a love story. Watts’ character is married with kids, so there goes any hope of romance with Owen (even though they have a lot in common, such as getting hit by cars).
Makes you wonder whether the filmmakers understand certain fundamental reasons for going to the movies.
But all right, no romance; that could work if the story is compelling enough. But the dull doings of this picture recall the sluggish mood of “The Interpreter,” another global intrigue thing that sank under the weight of its good intentions.
Watts is virtually a nonpresence, Armin Mueller-Stahl does his buttery villainy and Bryan F. O’Byrne is effective as a baddie. Clive Owen is the show, and if you’re a fan of this cool star, you might get your money’s worth.
The director is Tom Tykwer (“Run Lola Run”), who knows how to make a film (the opening scene alone proves that) but lets this one get away from him.
Along with everything else, I’m afraid “The International” will set back the cause of Interpol agents as movie heroes for another 10 years.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
