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 .

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.

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.

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.

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")