IMDb synopsis (edited):
Escalating events begin when U.N. translator Silvia Broome alleges that she has overheard a death threat, spoken in a rare dialect few people other than she can understand. In an instant, Silvia's life is turned upside down. Placed under the protection of federal agent Tobin Keller, Silvia's world only grows more nightmarish.
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The Interpreter is an old school Sydney Pollack film. It reminded me a lot of another film he directed from 1975, Three Days of the Condor. Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman, of course, turn in excellent performances, and with the film crew having been given unprecedented access to shoot at the United Nations, the shots of the General Assembly and other New York locales are fantastic.
Plotwise, the movie is slow and cerebral, placing it more in the mystery/suspense genre than action/adventure, at least by today's standards. (This is not your typical summer blockbuster stuff. Haters of plot-driven movies, beware.) Someday, I'll have to watch the movie again, because upon the first viewing, I'm not sure if the transition from the main plot about the assassination to Nicole Kidman's backstory back to the main plot really works. Other than that, it was great to see a film that actually had characters with a backstory. The political element was also fascinating, allowing a number of comparisons to today's current events.
***
3 stars
Escalating events begin when U.N. translator Silvia Broome alleges that she has overheard a death threat, spoken in a rare dialect few people other than she can understand. In an instant, Silvia's life is turned upside down. Placed under the protection of federal agent Tobin Keller, Silvia's world only grows more nightmarish.
===
The Interpreter is an old school Sydney Pollack film. It reminded me a lot of another film he directed from 1975, Three Days of the Condor. Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman, of course, turn in excellent performances, and with the film crew having been given unprecedented access to shoot at the United Nations, the shots of the General Assembly and other New York locales are fantastic.
Plotwise, the movie is slow and cerebral, placing it more in the mystery/suspense genre than action/adventure, at least by today's standards. (This is not your typical summer blockbuster stuff. Haters of plot-driven movies, beware.) Someday, I'll have to watch the movie again, because upon the first viewing, I'm not sure if the transition from the main plot about the assassination to Nicole Kidman's backstory back to the main plot really works. Other than that, it was great to see a film that actually had characters with a backstory. The political element was also fascinating, allowing a number of comparisons to today's current events.
***
3 stars
