‘The International’ is Universally Boring
-----This film didn’t look bad in the trailer. Maybe a bit far fetched with its “evil bank” plot but ultimately entertaining. And of course, that scene on the roof where star Clive Owen has a gun to someone’s head couldn’t be the climax of the film…could it?
-----The film is centered on a corrupt bank known as the IBBC. Interpol agent Louis Salinger (Clive Owen) is determined to expose the banks’ deadly deals involving universal arms brokering, and of course, lots of corruption and murder. With the aid of Eleanor Whitman (Naomi Watts) the two follow a trail to the top of the food chain, never suspecting that their actions may be futile.
-----Clive Owen is about all this film has to offer. He’s commanding in the lead role, effectively maintaining his usual sense of urgency and intensity, while also continuing to deliver lines with the precision of a skilled surgeon, as is the norm for Owen. Naomi Watts is an out of place character in and out of the movie at seemingly random intervals, never managing to win the hearts of the audience or really evoke any emotion. I don’t blame her though, she’s adequate, but her lines and character are never developed and feel tired and dutiful. Everyone else has either bit parts or a role involving one of the many tangents the film travels down. Some may call it convincing detective work, but I call it wordy, boring and often unnecessary.
-----One of the film’s main problems comes in the area of editing. If the film had been cut up a little better, lingering less here, cutting lines there, it may have kept the audiences general attention a bit longer. Occasionally interesting, mostly repetitive, this film represents one of the rare cases where a lot of the material probably should have been left for the director’s cut DVD. It does however, have a single action scene that is an old fashioned gun fight done right. Not relying on bending bullets (*ahem* ‘Wanted’) or other aerial stunts to thrill, it comes off as a relatively believable and ultimately excellent scene. However, the movie seems weary to commit a genre. This can be a good thing. but that is unfortunately not the case here. Not enough action to be an action movie, and a little too convoluted to work effectively as a corporate drama, ‘The International’ falls between the two, wielding far too many scenes that try to talk their way into believable espionage. ‘Michael Clayton’ is an example of a film about corporate corruption that works. It focuses on the story and details of the situation relaying them in a believable and intriguing fashion, leaving no conversation in the “filler scene” category.
-----Despite its flaws, there are many interesting and fun locales seen in ‘The International,’ with an occasional surprise and some nice cinematography. However, if what’s taking place in the scenes is trivial and tiresome, it doesn’t make for a very good time. One of the movie’s other missteps for the casual viewer comes by means of the trailer. Rarely should a trailer have an impact on the actual movie other than sales, but when the climax of the 118 min. film is shown in the 30 second TV spots, you’re begging for the audience to be disappointed. I felt cheated. The movie took two hours of my life and my money for an end product that becomes blurred and irrelevant.
-----If you’re willing to sit down for two hours and follow the many conversations of the film objectively, with little interest in any of the characters with the exception of Owen, then you may find some interesting material. However, if you’re not interested in spending your time and money on a very forgetful and unsatisfying movie, then stay away from ‘The International.’ You can’t compose a movie of a few good elements and expect the rest to come together, and unfortunately that’s exactly what ‘The International’ does.
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