User reviews

One of Nicole Kidman's Finest Performances. Sean Penn's performance starts off flat with his character grumpy and unappealing, but as film progresses, one learns this was an appropriate approach based on the character's history.

This was a complicated story to bring to film, and Pollack did an adequate job in that regard, but too often the pacing is just a bit too slow and uneven.

Where Sidney shines is in bringing out the best in actors, and for me, this was one of Kidman's best performances in film, making it worth the view alone.

One must hunker down in this film as it is atypically a slow paced and subtle thriller. Some scenes don't connect with what would likely be realistic outcomes of circumstances, so the film loses 2 points for those moments, and another point for some hodgepodge editing.

Well done plot twists, a few moving moments, and Kidman's performance maintain the film's 7 Rating and a 👍 recommendation to view.

The Interpreter is an extremely packaged political thriller that contains only a little punch. The main reason I gave it a go was Sean Penn who seems to rarely make mistakes selecting his work. Nicole Kidman can be a mixed bag, and Sydney Pollack a competent seasoned veteran director. All three performed well without setting the screen alight.

The use of the United Nations building was a big plus and definitely gave the movie more realism. It also gave the viewer more of an idea on what a massive organisation the UN is.

Even though "The Interpreter" was enjoyable the ending was definitely a disappointment. It wasn't that it was necessarily wrong, just that you knew what was coming. This was the "Hollywood Factor" showing through. Perhaps the reason it didn't turn into real Hollywood trash was the fact it was filmed and produced in New York.

Entry to the United Nations headquarters in New York (and being directed by Sydney Pollack) was enough to make Nicole Kidman sign up for this enjoyable, if not a little formulaic, political thriller. Hollywood's golden girl teams up with man of the moment Sean Penn in this well-paced and intense tale which unfolds against a backdrop of international terror and unashamedly draws parallels with the current political situation in Zimbabwe. Kidman adopts a satisfactory South African accent for the role of Silvia Broome, a UN interpreter who overhears a plot to assassinate a controversial African leader during his visit to the United States. Penn is Tobin Keller, a Secret Service agent assigned to investigate Silvia's claims and protect her from the assassins. But is Silvia telling the truth? Silvia's life is turned upside down as she becomes a target for the killers but a suspicious Kellar digs deeper into her past in a bid to find out what she is hiding. Pollack (who has a small part in the movie) scored a massive coup when he convinced Kofi Annan to allow filming inside the UN building for the first time. Even Alfred Hitchcock had to improvise when making the classic Cary Grant North By North West. The movie has some very strong opening scenes, shot on location in South Africa, and instantly grabs our attention. When the action moves to New York, Pollack (who brought us Tootsie, Out Of Africa and The Firm) creates an old-whorled vibe with grainy shots more reminiscent of the 70s, deliberately avoiding the neon lights of the Big Apple to create a dulled-down mood that sits much better with the film's content. Kidman and Penn handle their material well, putting in solid performances and the pair square up nicely on screen. Predictably, and annoyingly so, however, a chemistry develops between the two making for some scenes which would have been better left on the cutting room floor. Let's face it, the old adage of two strangers being brought together by circumstance and suddenly being able to open up and shed their baggage has all been done before. The moral of the story is also a little bit too Hollywood. We can admire its good intentions and even buy into the idea that we can change the world with words and diplomacy but it all becomes a bit nonsensical. But it is the movies after all and it's difficult to find fault with Pollack who has opted for a dialect-driven film as opposed to high-octane action scenes - although they do make a welcome appearance as the film reaches its climax. This is the thinking person's thriller and it's definitely worth a viewing.

I heard some good comments about this movie from some colleagues, and I bought the DVD really expecting to see great film. Directed by Sydney Pollack and having Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn and Catherine Keener in the cast, I thought that it would certainly be a great political thriller. Unfortunately I was absolutely wrong.

The confused and flawed screenplay does not develop well the characters, the story is very disappointing and commercial and there are very stupid lines, such as when Silvia asks Keller what he does when he can not sleep, and he answers that he stays awake; or when Dot comes to a stripper in a night-club and asks her to not touch the Prime Minister in a lap dance. What about the secret service leaving the menaced president of a country alone in a room after an attempt against his life? Why would a citizen and her president together alone speak in English instead of in their native dialect or language? The conclusion is simply awful and corny, and the alternative ending with worse than the original one. There is a total lack of chemistry between Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn for the insinuated romance arising between them. Nicole Kidman seems to have fixed the awful plastic surgery of her nose, and is very beautiful again in this flick.

Last but not the least, it is very weird that many favorable reviews are made by users with only one review issued in IMDb, in a type of apparently fake promotion. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "A Intérprete" ("The Interpreter")

Silvia Broome (Nicole Kidman) is an UN interpreter. She overhears two men discussing a mysterious plot in an African language. "The Teacher will never leave this room alive." Allege war criminal Matobo president Edmond Zuwanie is coming to address the UN General Assembly. She becomes convinced that the threat is against Zuwanie and tells the UN security. U.S. Secret Service Tobin Keller (Sean Penn) and Dot Woods (Catherine Keener) are assigned to protect Zuwanie and they investigate Silvia. It turns out that her family suffered under Zuwanie and she is connected with the opposition.

This starts as an interesting thriller with the UN as a backdrop. The political intrigue is somewhat engrossing like a murky 70s thriller. Kidman is cold and Penn is a bit unstable. I wish his character is the protagonist and the audience can unravel the intrigue from the outside. Kidman's character is better with mystery. The movie should keep some distance from her. The audience should keep guessing about her. I do have a few questions about the ending and it drags on a bit too long. It should probably use an alternate ending.

Sydney Pollak has directed a lot of good films over the last 40 years, and this, though not his finest work, is one. But it's just 'good'. Pollak has a great sense of pacing and character development, and he puts both to work to good effect in this suspenseful high-stakes terrorism drama. Kidman and Penn deliver solid and memorable performances and are joined by an excellent supporting cast. The acting talent, clever though predictable plot, superior production and cinematography, and fearlessly quirky script are what makes this film work, despite a few rather absurd plot points.

Kidman unsurprisingly, dominates the screen with a powerful portrayal of a young South African translator for the UN, who overhears a plot to assassinate the genocidal president of her home country, Motambo. Penn plays a hard-nosed, recently widowed investigator assigned to the case. As the plot escalates, it becomes clear that Kidman herself is also a target and that she has secrets...

There are some problems with believability here. Most glaring is the fact that the intelligence agents and security people investigating Kidman and the plot to kill a genocidal African president in the U.N. are depicted as anything but intelligent. The identity of the perpetrator and the nature of the intended crimes should have been more or less obvious about half-way through the film, and the security team should have had a trap set and armed personnel crawling all over the entire building. It is also unlikely that anybody in Kidman's predicament would have been allowed to continue with unrestricted access to the UN, at virtually any time of day or night, more or less unwatched. And it is even more problematic that somebody with her background should be working at the UN in the first place. The actors' performances and the relationship which develops between the two main characters (which is really at least half the plot) help to gloss over the minor problems and make the film very entertaining and suspenseful. There are also some potentially powerful political messages just below the surface, but I never felt that these messages really emerged, and was left wondering if theyr were simply artistic flourishes or perhaps, posturing.

Being from Africa, I found it highly annoying that they decided to use a fake country name (which of course not a lot of people would know!).

The general idea was great and I love NIcole Kidman, and I was really looking forward to watch this movie. However, after seeing it, I felt a lot more could have been done with this wonderful cast and great idea - a lot was missing and it was pretty predictable.

The sad thing is that there are a lot of children actually walking around with automatic weapons, killing for "lunch money" to survive. The civil wars in Sudan are also very sad, but what is even more sad is that we sit here as bystanders and we don't do anything about it. Yeah, we might complain a little if we hear (or shall I say when we hear/read - because so little is said about it) but then people are more worried about foreign gasoline imports, than they are about human lives in a far away country. All it takes is to contact your local government representative.

While I feel this movie shed a little light on that, and yes I know the story is not about it, the plot could have been more suspenseful and unpredictable.

Last night, I watched The Interpreter, primarily because I wanted to see if Sydney Pollack still had it and in my humble opinion, he does. I don't see too much film-making like this these days. For one thing, it's slow, but in a good way. Too many suspense films speed by at such an absurd rate that there's never any time for a mood to be built or characters to be known. Here, we get to know the characters intimately and are gradually drawn into the complex and compelling and relevant plot. Speaking of relevance, there is, here, a "message", but it's delivered organically by way of carefully structured storytelling and character development, not with a bullhorn and fireworks. Speaking of characters, I love the understated performances in this film by Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman. I love also the moments in this film, such as when Penn's character in a country-western bar unplugs the jukebox to stop the noise of some country-pop crap then restarts it in order to play Lyle Lovett's wonderful "If I Had a Boat" then goes to a pay phone and calls his own house just to hear his wife's voice on the answering machine.

Also, while I have nothing against fast, action-adventure-cartoon-type violence when it's done just right. The violence in this film isn't exciting. It's just as it should be considering the subject matter. It's sad and desolate and when a man speaks his last words to the child-soldier who has just shot him and when a bus is bombed or a desperate man is betrayed and murdered you feel it, the final moments of human lives; a being being taken away. There's room for sentiment in such films and it doesn't have to be sap as it so often is.

I don't follow entertainment news much these days (much as I'd love to) because such stories and reviews and even trailers (which I also used to love watching) give away far too much of the story (which I'm trying here not to do) so I don't know how this film was received, but I hope it did well and if it didn't, I hope audiences come to discover and love it gradually so that there might be more films like it.

Director Sidney Pollack has given us some very fine films in the past; THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR and TOOTSIE come immediately to mind, and he won an Oscar for OUT OF Africa (although it's not high on my personal list of his films). But not even Mr. Pollack can make a great film without having a script to start with. I think that's the lesson of THE INTERPRETER. There are many things that are just not well thought out here, and the whole suffers as a result.

Penn is great as always, Kidman does a lot with her character, but often they're wandering through the scenes in a story that doesn't seem to know where to go next. Actually the fact the movie makes any sense at all is a credit to Pollack's experience and talent. There are some great ideas here, and there's certainly a level of entertainment achieved; even some thought provoking moments. But it's clear the filmmakers weren't working from a well prepared script. 6 out of 10.

I was interested in seeing The Interpreter since it looked like a good adult drama. Unfortunately, the movie has some problems.

The big plus of the movie is Kidman. She is one of those women who actually looks better as she ages, and she is a talented actress. Sean Penn is also a good actor, and both do a great job in the movie.

Unfortunately the good acting can't overcome the weak script. I felt like the story was still a 2-3 drafts short of being ready for the screen. The biggest problem was that there are plot holes you could drive a truck through. I also felt the movie dragged through most of the middle as they tried to develop the strained relationship between the principle characters.

If you are a plot-driven movie fan, as I am, the movie is likely to be a disappointment. If you are a acting-driven movie fan, you will probably like the movie more.

Silvia Broome (Nicole Kidman) is a UN interpreter who is fluent in the fictional African language of Ku, spoken in her fictional native country of Matobo. When she returns to her office one night to retrieve something, she overhears some men plotting (in Ku) to assassinate the president of Matobo. Now that it looks like someone is probably after her, US agent Tobin Keller (Sean Penn) is assigned to protect her. From there, we learn that every character knows more than they are revealing.

What I determined most while watching "The Interpreter" was not whether it was a good or bad movie, although I did like it. It seems that when you reach certain degrees of international relations, there are no good guys, no bad guys, and no middle ground; there is only moral nihilism. We learn that for years, Matobo was ruled by the white minority while the black majority lived in desperate poverty. Then, current president Edmund Zuwanie led a revolution that brought the black population to power. Unfortunately, he turned into a dictator. Among other things, he murdered Silvia's family. Whether or not Silvia wants revenge is not the point (but she does admit: "I don't care for him."). The point is that no character can be truly classified one way or the other.

As for what the movie said about the United Nations as an organization, it didn't take a solidly pro- or anti-UN stance, although it leaned towards pro. Like I said, the point overall seems to be that you can't go totally one way or the other.

Nice suspense thriller with mystery , plot twists and an international conspiracy that unfold inside the United Nations . There an interpreter , Silvia Broome (Nicole Kidman) , overhears an assassination plot , as she has overheard a death threat against an African head of state and then a hard-boiled U. S. Secret Service agent named Tobin Keller (Sean Penn) along with his helper (Catherine Keener) are assigned to investigate the case . Silvia was raised in the Republic of Matobo, a fictional African country, but she has dual citizenship. Meanwhile , the U. N. is considering indicting Edmond Zuwanie (Earl Cameron) , Matobo's president , to stand trial in the International Criminal Court . Initially a liberator , over the past 20 years he has become as tyrannical and corrupt as the government he overthrew , and is now responsible for ethnic cleansing within Matobo . Zuwanie is soon to visit the U. N. and put forward his own case to the General Assembly , in an attempt to avoid the indictment . Then scalating events , happenings grow more nightmarish, and things go awry . We're all being watched ! . The truth needs no translation !.

This exciting suspense flick contains thrills , political intrigue , deception , noisy action , shootouts , twists , turns and is quite entertaining . A commercial thriller that failed at the boxoffice , here Sidney Pollack to indulge in the internal machinery of the UN building which allowed in the movie cameras for the first time and some breathtaking helicopter shots of NYC . The African leaders : Matbo , Ku , Kuman-Kuman are all fictional , of course , but we must asume that Motobo is a post-revolutionary sub-Saharan state and along the lines can be Zimbabwe and the president Zuwanie is a thinly veiled portrait of Robert Mugave figure . This is a competent thriller , but observing global politics from this perspective turning out to be an uncomfortable , frustating experience , but the movie still lends nothing to our understanding of post-colonial Africa , including ethnic cleansing , corruption as well as other atrocities and disasters . Main actors give passable acting , as Nicole Kidman as an interpreter working at the United Nations in New York City whose life is turned upside down as she becomes a hunted target of the killers and Sean Penn as the stubborn agent assigned to the twisted case that takes under the protection the threatened victim ; nevertheless , there isn't chemistry enough among them. They are well accompanied by a good support cast , such as : Catherine Keener , Jesper Christensen , Yvan Attal , Earl Cameron , George Harris , Michael Wright , Clyde Kusatsu , Hugo Speer , Robert Clohessy , David Zayas and Sidney Pollack himself .

It displays a colorful and brilliant cinematography from Darius Khondji, shot on location in UN , NYC . As well as rousing and moving musical score by James Newton Howard . The motion picture was well financed by producers Tim Bevan , Eric Fellner , Anthony Minghella and professionally produced/written/played/directed by Sidney Pollack , though it has some disappointing scenes , flaws and gaps . This good professional was an excellent actor and director , making the following important movies : "The Property is condemned" , "The Slender Thread" , "The Scalphunters" , "They Shoot Horses , Don't They ?" , "Jeremiah Johnson" , "The Way we Were" , "Yazuka" , "3 days of Condor" , "Absence of Malice" , "Tootsie" , "Out of Africa" , "Havana" , "The Firm", "Sabrina" , "Random Hearts", among others . Rating : 6/10. The picture will appeal to thriller fans , but especiallly appointed to Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn fans . In spite of its several shortcomings , flops and failures , the picture is well worth watching .

I am in Greece and I just saw the Interpreter here. I read the book the Interpreter by Suzanne Glass a while back, and I was sure that this movie was inspired by her book. Well, now I know that it was! Her name is mentioned in the film credits. I thought the film was great, however they changed so much from the book which i had enjoyed immensely. Only the beginning of the film is exactly the same. Nicole Kidmans performance in the film is very strong although her South African accent could be better. Sean Penn, as usual, is dynamite.The most interesting thing for me was the insight into the world of interpreting which i had begun to understand by reading Glass's novel. It really is the most strenuous and demanding profession that i can imagine a person can enter into. I am sure this film will do extremely well in the united stated market. In my view, it is Oscar worthy and will certainly receive a few nominations.

The truth is that Sidney Pollack's career has been rather irregular. He's capable of doing very good movies ("Tootsie", "The Firm"), but he can as well make pure rubbish such as "Sabrina" or "Random hearts". You never know what to expect from him. Anyway, fortunately "The interpreter" is closer (in quality) to "The Firm" than to the remake of "Sabrina". It is a nice suspense film, and Pollack copes very well with this kind of products. "The interpreter" is no masterpiece, but this plot involving the Secret Service of the USA, the UN, and some African war lords is quite entertaining and it's been filmed such elegantly.

I wonder if it wouldn't have been much better to choose another actress to play the ex-guerrilla character. I mean, Nicoloe Kidman is a wonderful performer, she's always OK, but she doesn't look that much like a paramilitary. Sean Penn is OK too, as usual, but neither him nor Kidman have made the work of their lives in "The interpreter". They look like they're on the automatic pilot. It doesn't matter though, none of them have anything to prove at this stage.

*My rate: 6/10

I had the chance to see this film yesterday at its world opening in Athens,Greece."The interpreter" is a political thriller directed by one of the most suitable filmmakers for this,Sydney Pollack. Nicole Kidman plays the role of a South African-born UN translator who overhears an assassination threat against the dictator of an African country.Sean Penn plays the role of a Secret Service agent,assigned to investigate the case.Soon we find out that the interpreter's past could explain her possible involvement in the conspiracy.So-maybe-not everything is exactly as it seems to be. Both Kidman and Penn give controlled and emotional performances,although intense and powerful on the inside.It's nice to see 2 stars of the value of Kidman and Penn to make these choices in their career and not waste their talent in indifferent projects. In the end the film is not only a political thriller.It is also a story on overcoming personal losses,dealing with the past in a clever,effective way and moving on...

I had the opportunity to watch the movie here in Greece, where for some reason,it came out in the theaters two weeks before it does in USA.In general"The Interpreter" was an interesting movie, as one would expect given the undisputed talent of the cast(Kidman,Penn) and the experience of the director(Pollack).I particularly enjoyed the scenes that were shot inside the UN building and really added an new element to the story.Furthermore,the music of the film composed by James Newton-Howard is superb.Nevertheless,the movie lacks that "something" that would make it a great political thriller like "The Manchurian Candidate". The story is interesting,the performances by Kidman and Penn noticeable but the movie leaves you feeling that something is missing...In any case,you will spend a couple of hours pleasantly and also get a little bit of insight about the role of the UN.

Having seen "Mystic River" recently, I was awaiting Sean Penn's next movie with great anticipation as he is one brilliant actor, and when I heard Nicole Kidman was to be his co-star, this was well worth waiting for, and both of them are superb in a very well-constructed movie, with great location shooting in New York. and in particular the United Nations building. Sydney Pollack has produced (and played a small part in it!) an excellent movie, full of intrigue with exciting music and great photography. "The Interpreter" has, by its very nature, been forced to create a new African Nation , rather than single out Zimbabwe for example, and the opening sequences set the mood for a very enthralling 2 1/4 hours. The whole cast is excellent, though made up of relative unknowns other that the two stars. I can recommend this film very highly.

As a fan of Kidman, Penn and Pollack I was certainly looking forward to seeing The Interpreter. The performances by the lead actors was exciting and very believable. However, what left me disappointed about the film was the distractions from poor scene continuity. With Nicole having a bad hair day throughout the movie, we see that as the camera angles change on Nicole her hair is different. Hair covering her eyes in one angle then combed back at another angle. Scenes where her hair is blowing in the wind with one camera angle, and no wind at all with the next shot. Another distraction is in the scene where Nicole speaks with an apparently strong South African accent that we do not hear in other scenes. And finally, I found it very distracting for Sydney Pollack to pop up now and then in scenes. I felt that as the movie Director, his cameo appearances was a distraction from immersing myself into the story.

Silvia Broome works in the UN as a translator for the delegates, specifically a handful of lesser-known African dialects. Realising she has forgotten some stuff in her booth, Silvia returns late at night to collect it, only to overhear two men talking in one of these languages about a plot to assassinate an African leader when he comes to speak to the UN. The African leader is suspected of genocide in the country that Silvia originates from but the Americans do not want such a man killed on their turf. The Secret Service put Tobin Keller and Dot Woods on the case, but Tobin doesn't take the matter too seriously until someone starts threatening Silvia directly. This begins an operation to prepare for the visit, investigate leads and protect Silvia – however, the more Tobin looks, the less he likes about Silvia's past.

So Sidney Pollack has achieved what Hitchcock failed to do; by which I mean Pollack has produced a potentially slick thriller that takes itself far too seriously and is a lesser film as a result – how jealous the estate of Hitchcock must be! Kudos to the film for using the real UN building to good effect but that is not enough to justify this basic Hollywood thriller attempting to dress itself up grownup clothes and parade around all serious like. The basic plot is interesting and throws up several moments that are exciting and enjoyable but it bogs itself down in assuming a political depth that it never achieves. Using African genocide is OK as a plot device but either do it with a heart (Hotel Rwanda) or keep it in the background (Bourne Identity); to use it as a thriller plot while also trying to make it emotionally impacting was a mistake and one took away from another. The delivery of the film is all a bit too worthy, lots of talky scenes and sweeping shots and so on – problem is it just doesn't have the material to carry such a mood.

The cast get drawn into this a bit too much. Kidman plays it all a bit wide-eyed and scared, confusingly spending most of the time talking in rushed whispers in an accent that is, well, consistent if nothing else. Penn is basically playing a normal action role but he tries to do more than that – he ends up looking uncomfortable and, ironically, it is only in the engaging thrilling sections that he convinces. Keener gives a good natural performance; so why she had so little screen time was a mystery to me. The support cast is OK but I must admit that it was very distracting in some regards. First of all, I was a bit surprised by the presence of George Harris – a big bold man who I had last seen in the BBC TV flop 55 Degrees North. However, this was less distracting than the presence of that group that tends to move in packs – actors from the HBO series Oz; rarely do you see one but you see three (Law & Order: SVU anyone?). So for a while I was playing "spot the Oz actor" and got to three small roles before I accepted that I would get no more. I'm not saying anyone was actually that good but they weren't that bad either.

Overall this is a Hollywood political thriller – the likes of which are always put out to appeal to the "intelligent" action crowd. However this tries to take on a worthy mantle that it doesn't deserve and it ends up being an uncomfortable mix of good tense scenes and rather preachy and unnecessary talky scenes. Sadly this combination is poor and the latter sucks the life out of the former without really adding any value of its own. For all the class, this is nothing more than an average political thriller with ideas above its station.