Movie Haiku - The Interpreter

www.interpretermovie.com

Dir: Sydney Pollack

Cast: Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn, Catherine Keener, Hugo Speer

Plot to kill leader
She's in danger cos she heard
but has shady past

I haven't got much of an opinion on this movie, it was all a little bland really. It starts well enough with a couple of men getting set up and gunned down in a playground in Africa. But when the action switches to the UN headquarters in New York it all gets a bit formulaic and dull. Kidman plays the titular interpreter who just happens to overhear a plot to assassinate an African leader who's been accused of genocide, and who is coming to the UN to give a speech. Penn is the CIA agent assigned to protect her and, at the same time, make sure nothing happens. Throw in a few revolutionaries, Kidman's rogue brother (Speer) plus her own murky past and you've got yourself a political thriller. Unfortunately it's just not a very thrilling one. The plot is predictable and, aside from a scene with a bomb on a bus, completely devoid of any genuine excitement. Nicole Kidman seems to veer between great performances (see The Others) and abysmal performances (see The Stepford Wives) and sadly this is one of the latter ones. Penn too is poor here, really over-acting his role as the grief stricken agent. In a word - average.

soulmining rating: **