Review by lee_eisenberg

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.