Film Review: The Interpreter

I was looking forward to watching this movie, because it had Sydney Pollack at the helm - in the past he has produced a variety of different movie genres: lush landscapes in Out of Africa, a pacy legal thriller in The Firm, slapstick comedy in Tootsie. Now he turns his hand to the Interpreter, a taut political thriller, with two of Hollywood's hot properties in Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn.

Kidman plays a South African born translator for the UN (Silvia Broome), who accidentally overhears a sinister message to assassinate the dictator of the country she grew up in (a made-up African country). As she reveals the information to the police, they bring in the Secret Service to protect the foreign dignitaries, headed up by Tobin Keller (Sean Penn). In investigating Sylvia's claims, he finds her a bit of an enigma. He starts uncovering pieces of her activist past, and while maintaining his professionalism, he becomes intrigued by her. She becomes increasingly under threat from foreign assassins, and while protecting her, he starts to fall for her.

This is where Penn gets to reveal his depths - he slowly starts to unravel his recent marriage break up, and open his heart up to Sylvia. All is not a bed of roses, however, as her shady past reveals that all is not as it seems. Is she a victim, or indeed involved? I'm not a personal fan of Kidman's; she has a coldness about her - her best roles are those that don't require any warmth, such as The Others, To Die For etc. When the role requires a level of humanity, she often falls short. She is tailor made for this role, however, and is as good as I've seen her. The (albeit wavering) South African accent is clipped and cold in its delivery, and the way she doesn't reveal all about herself, but masks much of her emotions is right up her street.

When the time gets nearer to the threatened dignitary's visit, the pace of this movie ups a notch. There is a sensational scene on a bus that is both tight and tense, and is perfectly shot by cinematographer Darius Khondji ("Panic Room," "Seven") and (more importantly) edited to perfection. The finish boils over and presses all the edge-of-the-seat buttons, and much of the finale happens within the actual UN building itself.

Ok, so the final reel, and ultimately the plot is a bit predictable, but it's what has gone before that is interesting. Pollack takes time to develop his characters, and isn't afraid of a slower pace to explore their nuances, and their developing feelings for each other. It's this patient approach which merits the film its mark, alongside some fine performances from Penn and Kidman. When the pace does notch up, the slick editing and camerawork take over and more than competently deliver a laboured plotline. 7/10.