THE INTERPRTER

by Joe Barber on May.07, 2005, under Joe Barber's Movie Reviews

MOVIE REVIEW: “THE INTERPRTER”

Crafting a credible thriller is a tricky task. You’ve got to crate a plot
that can get an audience’s blood pumping while keepin the storyline within
the bounds of some kind of reality. The fate of nations and characters are
on the line and danger is at every turn, but your hero better find a way to
triumph, even at the cost of a friend, lover or a limb. Your storytelling
focus must be flexable enough to shift from huge special effects and
dazzling stunt work to the smallest of details, like the name on a piece of
paper tossed into a trash can. The number of directors who can pull this
off in an entertaining and engrossing manner can be counted on two hands.
Sidney Pollack, who turned this trick brilliantly in “Three Days of The
Condor” and “The Firm” tries to pull off a
hat trick of sorts with “The Interpter”, starring Nicole Kidman and Sean
Penn. Despite some semi-
serious flaws, the movie delivers solid value.

Kidman is Silvia Broome, an interpter at the United Nations. A survivor of
the war-torn African nation of Motoba, she’s lost many of the people closest

to her, but has come to the U.N. tp be a part of peaceful change and
progress. While leaving her booth after a drill, she accidentally overhears

a whispered plot to assassinate the controversail leader of her native
country when he arrives to speak in defense of himself and his tactics
before the General Assembly.

When she reports what she’s overheard, she’s questioned by Tobin Keller
(Penn), the top agent for the Secret Service’s Diplomat Protection Division,

the U.S. Government agency responsible for protecting the Motoban leader
while he’s in New York. Keller knows the government can’t afford to take
any chances, but is suspicious of Silvia and begins digging into her past.
As the leader’s arrival draws closer, a web of past and current connections
between Silvia and opposition forces emerges. Is she helping the ploters or

providing a diversion from a more sinister plot? Is she a victim of
circumstance or a tool of those seeking to kill the Motoban president and
embarass the United States and the U.N. ? Can Keller uncover the trruthin
time?

Director Pollack manages to keep all these plotlines moving smoothly, for
the most part, towards an exciting and unexpected conclusion. Among the
bumps in the road, however, are one too many conincidental sub plots that
act as annoying red herrings. These sub-plots clutter the movie and slow
the pace, robbing the movie of some needed energy. Penn’s low-key, tightly
restrained performance as Agent Keller is also a problem. Though he’s a fine

actor, his typical acting syle works against the natural dynamics of a
thriller. Kidman, however, is dead solid perfect, delivering a complex,
layered performance that powers and stablizes the movie.

A perfect example of the sum being greater than its parts, “The Interprter”
is engaging and thought provoking piece of adult entertainment at the
movies, something we rarely get from Hollywood studios these days. Warts
and all, it’s a welcome sight.

MPAA RATING:PG-13 for profanity and violence.
JOE’S RATING:THREE STARS.