The Interpreter loses a little in translation. Review on The Interpreter Movie

Sitting in the theater, nearly 20 minutes into viewing The Interpreter, I began to wonder if the extended length lately of all the commercials and trailers, which precede the features are dimming my movie experience, or if film makers are settling for mediocrity - The last refuge of the creatively challenged. The trailers for The Interpreter did the job - They excited me enough to get me into the theater, and while the film was entertaining enough, it just wasn’t, as they say, all that.

It is a very original and interesting premise, I give them that, but in execution, it was about as suspenseful and engrossing as a melting ice cube. What I found entertaining was the dialogue, which most times was sharp, witty, and sometimes thought-provoking, such as when Silvia tells Tobin, “Vengeance is a lazy form of grief”.

But while the dialogue moves at a brisk pace, the storyline clumps behind it painfully like a gnarled club foot, ultimately trampling any excitement that might have been growing.

Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn have great chemistry on screen. It is unfortunate that it was wasted on something so banal. However, both turn in well paced and thoughtful performances, considering what they have been given. The scene almost at the beginning of the film, when the two first meet, contains some of the best dialogue in the movie. Not so much because it was realistic, but because the combative banter between the two was snappy and tightly woven. It reminded me of one those 1940's yarns in which Lauren Bacall may have played the female lead. I found it amusing.

Nicole Kidman is Silvia Broome, a white South African from Matobo, who now lives in New York City, and works as a translator for The United Nations. One evening, after hours, she returns to the booth where she sits when the assembly is in session, to retrieve some personal items. She just 'happens' to over hear voices in the assembly, plotting to kill Matobo’s president, Edmond Zuwanie - Coincidence number one.

These voices also happen to be whispering in (fictional) an African dialect, that very few of the interpreters in The United Nations besides Silvia speak - Coincidence number two. President Zuwanie happens to be the man she holds responsible for the death of her parents and sister, who were killed by a landmine when she was just 11 years old - Coincidence number three. Zuwanie, who was once a respected revolutionists, is now regarded by most of the world as dictator who has resorted to genocide to keep the masses in line. He by the way, just happens to be planning a trip to speak to the general assembly, in defense of his tactics - Another coincidence? Being entertained at all by this movie, requires that you suspend belief and accept these coincidences.

While Silvia, has no great love for Zuwanie, whom she once revered, she reports what she has heard to The Secret Service. His assasination on American soil would be an incident of catastrophic international proportions. The Secret Service has vowed to ensure his safety at all costs. Enter Tobin Keller (Sean Penn), a sad, cynical agent, who is still mourning the death of his wife, who was killed in a car accident less than two weeks prior. While he is skeptical of her, he is drawn to her, and her to him, because of the tragedies they are both still learning to handle.

But of course, now Silvia has worse problems - It seems the men with those mysterious voices saw her that evening in the booth, and are out to silence her before she can identify them. As the story unfolds, we learn more about Silvia, and realize that things are more complicated than we at first assumed. Those mystery men are out to get Silvia. Their out to kill Zuwanie...or are they? The two, Tobin and Silvia in the end are better, more whole for having known each other. And they both lived happily ever after! Yeah, right.

While there is a lot of intimacy between the two, it is not of a romantic nature. Luckily, the writers and the director (Sidney J. Pollack), who also plays the head of the Secret Service, avoided this cliche. Admirably, one of the movies triumphs, is giving us what appears to be a very realistic glimpse of the atmosphere at The United Nations, especially in light of 911.

The Interpreter is not so much a bad movie as it is a mediocre one. If the stars of this movie were unknowns, there would be very little hoopla, and the movie would be slated for video as I type this review. For stars such as Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn, and Sidney Pollack, at this point in their careers, mediocrity is not good enough. In fact, it is an insult.

Cast

Silvia Broome - Nicole Kidman

Marcus - Michael Wright

Written by

Charles Randolph

Steven Zaillian

Directed by

Sidney Pollack