The Interpreter Review
by Harvey S. Karten (harveycritic AT cs DOT com)April 25th, 2005
THE INTERPRETER
Reviewed by Harvey S. Karten
Universal Pictures
Grade: B-
Directed by: Sydney Pollack
Written by: Charles Randolph, Scott Frank, Steven Zaillian,
story by Martin Stellman, Brian Ward
Cast: Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn, Catherine Keener
Screened at: Loews 84th St., NYC, 4/20/05
Given the plethora of slight, romantic comedies that embrace thousands of American screens (such as anything with Sandra Bullock except "Crash" though not including "Fever Pitch"), and the CGI-enhanced mayhem that brings in the principal target audience week after week ("State of the Union," for example), it's a pleasure to take in a political thriller that is adult, that deals with matters of the heart as well as the violence of fanatics. In fact "The Interpreter" should have been an unmitigated delight. The film, directly with the required Hollywood slickness by Sydney Pollack featuring two first-class performers, is bogged down by a murky plot, the product of three scripters using a story by two others. A poli-sci major–if any are left now that the kids are all majoring either in computer science or film studies–would have some difficulty comprehending the complexities in a film whose editor, William Steinkemp, should have been ordered to make more use of the scissors, or whatever passes for that within current movie technology. Characters are thrown about helter-skelter, quite often without credibility, and "The Interpreter" is soon awash with wild coincidence, challenging credibility, and fairly large plot holes. What's more, given director Pollack's apparent vision, which is to create a thoroughly adult motion picture that will draw the over-35 crowd back to the multiplex, much of the picture is strangely without life, only a few scenes with nail-biting thrills.
Despite these failings, "The Interpreter" should not be missed given stunning performances by Nicole Kidman as the titled U.N. official and Sean Penn as a secret service agent protecting the interpreter while closely watching for signs that an assassin is loose in the General Assembly.
While interpreter Silvia Broome (Nicole Kidman) works in the UN's translations booth, she does not feel at home in New York. Silvia is a dual citizen of both the U.S. and the (fictitious) African nation of Matobo–where she has been brought up using one of that south-central African country's exotic tribal languages. One wonders why she's homesick for a country whose tyrannical government is responsible for the violent deaths of her mother and sister, and given her penchant to mourn for them and her icy character, we can almost believe that this beautiful woman is alone and friendless in the Big Apple. During a break in proceedings, she overhears a whispered conversation plotting the assassination of Matobo's President Zuwanie (Earl Cameron), is spotted by the would-be assassins who are now out to get her, and has a difficult time convincing Secret Service Agent Tobin Keller (Sean Penn) that she is telling the truth.
Though Alfred Hitchcock faked a UN scene in "North by Northwest," photographer Darius Khondji takes full advantage of the permission given to film a movie within the building for the very first time. As the characters race against time to prevent a "Manchurian Candidate"–assassination, Agent Keller, the first security official to believe interpreter's story, gets to know his subject. The conversations between the two keep the thriller on a human level, as Broome explains to Keller her grief about the killing of family members in Matobo, while the world-weary Keller responds in kind about his estranged wife, killed in an accident in a car driven by her boyfriend. The mutuality of grief brings the two closer, allowing Broome to warn up to Keller enough to cry on his shoulder.
There are several plot holes. Why, for example, would the intended assassins go after the interpreter even after she'd obviously have told security about what she'd heard? When Silvia is shot at in her apartment while allegedly in the shower, how did she disappear from her room, and, in fact, how would she have known that a killer was about to pick her lock and invade her quarters? Would Silvia's information to the Secret Service lead to greater protection for the diplomat who is scheduled to speak, or, given the existence of Matobo's opposition leader-in-exile in Brooklyn and the demonstrations against the genocidal tyrant, wouldn't President Zuwanie have been afforded top security anyway?
Being a political thriller, "The Interpreter" has a series of twists, one of which alert audience members would see coming. Production values are tops as befits an expensive film of this nature and side characters, particularly Catherine Keener as Agent Dot Woods and Yvan Attal as a photographer seeking evidence of African genocide, are fine.
Rated PG-13. 128 minutes. © 2005 by Harvey Karten
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