The Interpreter

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 .

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.

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.

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.