Movie Review: The Interpreter

[CobraKevin]

Summary: Nicole Kidman is an interpreter for the United Nations, translating various languages but mainly a particularly unknown dialect in Southern Africa known as Ku. While retrieving a few things she left in her booth later in the evening, she overhears a couple of men speaking this language, contemplating an assassination attempt on the President of the Matoban people, Edmund Zawonie (sp). Sean Penn is a secret service agent assigned to the case once word of the assassination plot reached security officials and so forth. Fearing for her life, Kidman recieves protection from Penn and his team until the day of the speech. Between the present threats against the lives of both Kidman and the Matoban Presiden Zawonie (sp) and Kidman's secretive history in Africa, many twists and turns exist on the road to find the truth and prevent an international tragedy.

 

Pros: Kidman is surprisingly attractive, possibly due to the accent; convincing acting from all parties (even the not-so-good-english-speakers); and suspenseful situations typically keep you guessing.

 

Cons: The preview builds up a little more suspense/thrill than the majority of the movie does, some of the slower scenes are quite dull (as far as slower scenes go), and some questions seem insufficiently answered by the end of the film.

 

Overall: 3/5. Not a bad flick at all, but nothing really to base your night around. If you have some unused free time, worth checking out. However, if you have a short list of must-see's, this doesn't need to be on it.