film - The Interpreter

The Interpreter 2.5/5

I had high expectations for this film. It stars both Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman and is directed by Sydney Pollack, a pretty good director.



UN interpreter Sylvia Broome, specialist in African languages, overhears a possible discussion about an assasination attempt on the soon to be visiting President of Matobo. The President was a grass roots freedom fighter but after becoming President, he became a brutal dictator. Broome, as initally interviewed by weary Secret Service agent and recent widow, Tobin Keller (Sean Penn.) Keller is normally assigned to protect visiting dignitaries and tries to size up Broome and her accusations.

Soon, we learn that Broome's past in Motobo crosses with the dictatorship in way that affects her for the rest of her life. As the film drags on, we learn more and more about the past of the elusive Sylvia Broome.

The performances in the film are credible but not especially noteworthy, no doubt due to the weak script. Kidman isn't particularly appealing as the central focus of the film. Her vulnerability is diminished by her elusiveness. Her interactions with minor characters in the film, seem contrived, rather than by chance or surprise.

The film is not succint enough to make for a delicious thriller. It doesn't give you a good aha moment where it all falls into place. You don't get a chance to try to solve the mystery on your own like you do in other films. There are moments of tension, but they don't make up for the poor script.

I'll give Pollack credit, though, for not adding a fashionable, sugary romance. It appears romance was part of the shooting but all it was wisely edited out of the final cut.



The theatre was packed but it was mostly older folk, 50s and up.

I wouldn't watch it again.