The Interpreter

Being from Africa, I found it highly annoying that they decided to use a fake country name (which of course not a lot of people would know!).

The general idea was great and I love NIcole Kidman, and I was really looking forward to watch this movie. However, after seeing it, I felt a lot more could have been done with this wonderful cast and great idea - a lot was missing and it was pretty predictable.

The sad thing is that there are a lot of children actually walking around with automatic weapons, killing for "lunch money" to survive. The civil wars in Sudan are also very sad, but what is even more sad is that we sit here as bystanders and we don't do anything about it. Yeah, we might complain a little if we hear (or shall I say when we hear/read - because so little is said about it) but then people are more worried about foreign gasoline imports, than they are about human lives in a far away country. All it takes is to contact your local government representative.

While I feel this movie shed a little light on that, and yes I know the story is not about it, the plot could have been more suspenseful and unpredictable.

I heard some good comments about this movie from some colleagues, and I bought the DVD really expecting to see great film. Directed by Sydney Pollack and having Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn and Catherine Keener in the cast, I thought that it would certainly be a great political thriller. Unfortunately I was absolutely wrong.

The confused and flawed screenplay does not develop well the characters, the story is very disappointing and commercial and there are very stupid lines, such as when Silvia asks Keller what he does when he can not sleep, and he answers that he stays awake; or when Dot comes to a stripper in a night-club and asks her to not touch the Prime Minister in a lap dance. What about the secret service leaving the menaced president of a country alone in a room after an attempt against his life? Why would a citizen and her president together alone speak in English instead of in their native dialect or language? The conclusion is simply awful and corny, and the alternative ending with worse than the original one. There is a total lack of chemistry between Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn for the insinuated romance arising between them. Nicole Kidman seems to have fixed the awful plastic surgery of her nose, and is very beautiful again in this flick.

Last but not the least, it is very weird that many favorable reviews are made by users with only one review issued in IMDb, in a type of apparently fake promotion. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "A Intérprete" ("The Interpreter")

Director Sidney Pollack has given us some very fine films in the past; THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR and TOOTSIE come immediately to mind, and he won an Oscar for OUT OF Africa (although it's not high on my personal list of his films). But not even Mr. Pollack can make a great film without having a script to start with. I think that's the lesson of THE INTERPRETER. There are many things that are just not well thought out here, and the whole suffers as a result.

Penn is great as always, Kidman does a lot with her character, but often they're wandering through the scenes in a story that doesn't seem to know where to go next. Actually the fact the movie makes any sense at all is a credit to Pollack's experience and talent. There are some great ideas here, and there's certainly a level of entertainment achieved; even some thought provoking moments. But it's clear the filmmakers weren't working from a well prepared script. 6 out of 10.

I was interested in seeing The Interpreter since it looked like a good adult drama. Unfortunately, the movie has some problems.

The big plus of the movie is Kidman. She is one of those women who actually looks better as she ages, and she is a talented actress. Sean Penn is also a good actor, and both do a great job in the movie.

Unfortunately the good acting can't overcome the weak script. I felt like the story was still a 2-3 drafts short of being ready for the screen. The biggest problem was that there are plot holes you could drive a truck through. I also felt the movie dragged through most of the middle as they tried to develop the strained relationship between the principle characters.

If you are a plot-driven movie fan, as I am, the movie is likely to be a disappointment. If you are a acting-driven movie fan, you will probably like the movie more.

One of Nicole Kidman's Finest Performances. Sean Penn's performance starts off flat with his character grumpy and unappealing, but as film progresses, one learns this was an appropriate approach based on the character's history.

This was a complicated story to bring to film, and Pollack did an adequate job in that regard, but too often the pacing is just a bit too slow and uneven.

Where Sidney shines is in bringing out the best in actors, and for me, this was one of Kidman's best performances in film, making it worth the view alone.

One must hunker down in this film as it is atypically a slow paced and subtle thriller. Some scenes don't connect with what would likely be realistic outcomes of circumstances, so the film loses 2 points for those moments, and another point for some hodgepodge editing.

Well done plot twists, a few moving moments, and Kidman's performance maintain the film's 7 Rating and a 👍 recommendation to view.