Movie Reviews
If Sydney Pollack is the director that I know, then “The Interpreter” is not nearly as engaging as it should be. Pollack is, no doubt, a very talented director, capable of grabbing an audience in any setting. He knows how to push actors, how to get a pristine performance out of them. Here, he uses that talent, but it’s not quite as effective as it usually is.
“The Interpreter” is about Silvia Broome (Nicole Kidman), an English interpreter for the United Nations. She’s a white African, but fled the country when its president started killing people. One night, when inside the U.N., she stumbles upon a conversation that she knows she should not have heard. It deals with the assassination of that president who is coming to the U.N. from Africa, a dignitary that is well-hated by the public and by most of his country. Scared for her own safety and the safety of her brother in Africa, Silvia stays quiet until the next day when her paranoia gets to be too much.
Joining the investigation is Tobin Keller (Sean Penn). Agent Keller doesn’t believe that Silvia heard anything at all. He thinks that she is just another hater that wants the president dead for what he did. Even though Keller doesn’t necessarily like the guy either, he understands how it would look if the president was killed on United States soil. His investigation not only includes searching for those targeting the president, but also finding key parts of Silvia’s past – things that come back to kick her in the butt.
I, personally, like both Penn and Kidman’s performances. Each one possesses a solid persona that is quite unmistakable on screen. They hold themselves well. Penn is especially a good time to watch not because of how well he can expose emotions (like “Mystic River), but because of how well he can keep them boiling inside. Keller is sad and refined. He doesn’t like revealing himself, but when a problem rises he is not afraid of getting the job done. That is not an easy character trait, and Penn pulls it off swimmingly.
Now we come to Pollack, who also has a small roll in the film. What Pollack displays here is a sharp knack for human interaction. He’s extremely good at showing where many people are at different times.
However, “The Interpreter” lacks good pacing, which hurts the suspense in the first and second acts. It’s not until the plot is exploding that our pulse rises. And that’s not for a good ninety minutes. ***