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When it comes to The Interpreter, I think something got lost in the translation. All the pieces were there but something was missing. Silvia Bloome (Nicole Kidman) is a white African working as an interpreter at the UN. One night she happens to overhear a conversation in her native African tongue about the possible assassination of the nation's dictator, Zuwanie (Earl Cameron). Her country, the fictional Matobi, has been in civil unrest for years. Zuwanie, once the country's liberator, quickly turned into its oppressor, committing genocide and killing massive numbers of his own countrymen. There are two rivals, Kuman-Kuman (George Harris) and Ajene Xola (Curtiss Cook) who would like to overthrow him. Silvia fears for her life and rightly so. Detective Tobin Keller (Sean Penn), who is working through his own issues, is assigned to investigate her claims and ends up becoming her protector. The performances were top-notch. Both Kidman and Penn gave heartfelt performances. The supporting cast which included director Sydney Pollack, as well as Catherine Keener and Michael Wright also delivered solid performances. I appreciated the intelligent story and more complicated characters. It's nice to have a movie that isn't fatally dumbed down. It's definitely politically relevant and Pollack makes a clear statement about the role of the United Nations in international relations. It also looks at the emotional impact of civil unrest and genocide in Africa. I guess the problem with The Interpreter is a fitting one given the title. There is a whole lot of talk but not a lot of action. It's like you are just waiting for something to happen. There is one compelling sequence involving a metro bus but even the climax manages to talk its way to its resolution. Because of the lack of real action, the result is a thriller without many thrillers. While the performances manage to have an emotional punch, it just wasn't enough to keep me as fully engaged as I felt I should have been. |
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