The Tourist (PG-13)
Mike:
Mike: Tonight we are reviewing The Tourist
, a romantic thriller starring Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp.
What did I think?
I have to say I was disappointed, because I was misled by the trailer. It makes it look like it is going to be a non-stop action movie in the same vein as James Bond. I was hoping for at least something like North by Northwest, but we don’t get that either. The movie is actually on the slow side, I won’t go so far as to say boring, but the pacing is leisurely.
It seems like the filmmakers were trying for the feel of an old movie like To Catch a Thief, but they don’t pull it off. As much as I like Depp, and sometimes like Jolie, they are no Cary Grant and Grace Kelly. Another thing is that even though romance is a big part of the film, there doesn’t seem to be any real chemistry between the leads. In fact, there seems to be a lot of lingering close ups and posing that doesn’t really add up to much in the way of advancing the story. Sure they both look great, but sometimes it’s like looking through a catalog instead of being engrossed by a page turner.
The story follows a woman of mystery, Elise Clifton-Ward (Jolie), who is being followed by the police. They are hoping that she will lead them to the even more mysterious Alexander Pearce (?), who is wanted for committing a huge robbery. Math teacher Frank Tupelo (Depp) falls in to the mix when Elise turns him into a decoy in the search for Pearce.
The photography is great and much of the movie takes place in picturesque Venice, Italy. If nothing else, I really want to go there now.
In doing a little research on the film I was surprised by two things. One, that the movie is essentially a remake of a French film called Anthony Zimmer from 2005. Two, that it took something like 4 people to come up with this script including the amazing Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects). Director Florian Henkel von Donnersmarck threw in his two cents as well. There are a couple of twists, but only one of them is actually surprising.
The interesting cast includes Paul Bettany, Timothy Dalton, Steven Berkoff and Rufus Sewell. You may not recognize all the names, but you would certainly recognize all the faces. After all, Dalton was Bond once upon a time and Berkoff was the arrogant villain Victor Maitland in Beverly Hills Cop.
How do I rate this? I give this movie a 2.5 overall and a 2 for the romantic thriller genre. Aside from this not being the movie I expected, I think this kind has been done better many times in the past.
