Snak's Intermittent Movie Review - "The Interpreter"

Well we got Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman -- two hot actors that can steam up any movie. Sorry, but not this one.

Nicole plays Silvia Broome, a United Nation's interpreter who hails from Muboto, Africa. The movie starts with a security scare at the U.N. in New York, so everyone is evacuated. Silvia then goes back later to get her African flutes that she left behind. Going into the interpreter booth, she overhears a conversation on the U.N. floor about a potential plot to assassinate the Muboto president. But we don't actually hear what they said. We have to take her word for it, or do we? But the next day, she reports it to the U.N.

Sean Penn plays Tobin, a U.N. secret service agent who is assigned to Silvia in the investigation.

Well, I don't want to get into the details of the plot, but basically, Tobin doesn't know whether to believe her or not.

This movie could have been really good, so it was a bit disappointing. There are plot twists, but a keen mind can figure them out. I'm really tired of movies that use blatant foreshadowing. I won't give those bits away, I trust you'll notice them early on. There's so much more that could have been done with these two excellent actors. Either the dialogue doesn't utilize their talents or they just don't put enough effort into it. I'll go with the lousy dialogue. The steaminess just doesn't go anywhere.

There are times where the plot tension is really hot, but it tends to drag, then the cinematography just doesn't make the climax uberexciting.

Political plots are some of the most confusing ones, especially when an individual schemes to play both sides (see Star Wars - Attack of the Clones). This movie makes it difficult to sort everyone out and a better dialogue emphasis would have certainly helped.

Snak gives "The Interpreter" 2.76 fists out of 5.

Next review ... "Kingdom of Heaven". Orlando Bloom and Liam Neeson star in this crusader blockbuster about the Christian Knights Hospitallier and Templars who are at war with the Saracens under Saladin. Ridley Scott directs (thankfully). My prediction ... it's gonna kick ass, but not as much as Braveheart.