Movie review: The Interpreter

05/08/05

By Renee DeFloria,
Staff Writer

Resting comfortably at the number one position in the box office during the weekend of its April 22, 2005, debut, The Interpreter is hailed by movie critics and fans alike. Stars Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn give stellar performances as this film will take its viewers on a breathless ride of intrigue and political corruption.
But is The Interpreter all its cracked up to be?

Okay, so I have to admit, I’m a huge Nicole Kidman fan and I was anxiously awaiting this film after the preview trailers started pouring in, but I couldn’t help to be slightly disappointed after I left the theatre. I guess I was just expecting something different from The Interpreter, perhaps a little more action, deceit, or mystery. However that’s not to say that it still wasn’t a good movie worth seeing.

Born in the United States but raised in Africa, Silvia Broome (Nicole Kidman) is an interpreter at the United Nations. After an emergency evacuation rushes everyone out of the U.N., Silvia returns later that night to retrieve personal items that she left behind.

What Silvia didn’t expect is she would overhear the assassination plotting of a controversial African president during his visit to the U.N. When it becomes apparent that someone is watching Silvia and may be out to kill her, she seeks the help of the Secret Service.

Assigned to investigate and protect her, Secret Service agent Tobin Keller (Sean Penn) is more than a little suspicious of Silvia. After undergoing vigorous investigation, lie detector testing, and background checks it appears that Silvia has the darkest and most mysterious history of anyone involved.

Suspicious of Silvia’s secretive life and questioning if an assassination might even occur, Tobin must find a way to work through the mystery in order to believe his key witness.

As the movie unfolds and time passes on, the main characters start to develop as viewers get a glimpse inside of both Silvia and Tobin’s past.

Kidman and Penn work extremely well in creating the on-screen chemistry between Silvia and Tobin. Alluring cinematography captures the bright lights and busy streets of New York City while a nail-biting scene on a city bus pushing the film into it’s most twisted areas of the plot. With mere days left before the planned assassination is set to occur the audience learns that things just might not be as they appear.

Credited as the only film permitted to shoot actual scenes at the U.N. The Interpreter is a fast paced ride of suspicion, mystery, and political corruption.

Confusing and complex story lines make this film open for disappointment from some audiences, but if you’re the type that will like it, it might just be worth seeing again.
I give this movie a B.

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Posted by Setonian Online at May 8, 2005 09:06 AM