The International
Director: Tom Tykwer
Cast: Clive Owen, Naomi Watts, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Ulrich Thomsen, Axel Milberg
Genre: Action / Thriller
Rated: R
Review By:
Michael Dance
School:
NYU Tisch '07
Quote:
"...And hey, I met you. You are not cool." -Almost Famous
The International
Review By: Michael Dance
MichaelDance@TheCinemaSource.com
Click Here For Our Interview with Clive Owen
Click Here For Our Interview with Naomi Watts
The International
The International has some very good scenes and a handful of interesting ideas, but it’s ultimately done in by an anticlimactic ending and a plot that’s too impenetrable for it’s own good.
It is confusing. I’ve been accused of not paying enough attention to details when I watch movies — for example, I hardly ever remember character names — but here, I was really trying to pay attention to the plot, and I’m quite sure a lot of it still went over my head. That point was driven home for me when the movie ends with a montage of newspaper headlines: it occurred to me that I didn’t know whether the headlines were supposed to be considered good news or bad news.
That’s right: I don’t know whether or not the movie I just saw had a happy ending. Maybe that’s the point. Still, I think you’re supposed to draw some conclusion, beyond just wishing the movie would come with a crib sheet explaining various banking terms and what the heck the characters were even attempting to do in the last quarter of the movie.
Clive Owen stars as Lou Salinger (I looked it up), an Interpol agent trying to build a case against the fictional International Bank of Business and Credit along with a Manhattan district attorney played by Naomi Watts. (Why a Manhattan district attorney, I’m not sure.) Only problem is, everybody they find willing to talk about the IBBC ends up dead, sooner rather than later.
The IBBC is shady not only because they tend to kill people, but because they broker arms deals and play both sides of international conflicts. (As one man explains to the heroes in the film’s best speech: the bank’s source of power isn’t the money they have, it’s the debt they’re owed.) But mostly, it’s because rich bankers make very good villains — and the movie has the good fortune of being released in the middle of an economic crisis, giving it an added real-world heft.
The International obviously aspires to be a throwback to conspiracy thrillers from the ’70s like Three Days of the Condor. In its best scenes — a carefully-honed tense opening sequence, a sensational shoot-out that takes place in the Guggenheim Museum — it earns those comparisons. But other times you begin to suspect that the movie only seems confusing because it doesn’t make a lot of sense. I still don’t understand why the bank needed two snipers. Or why the IBBC can kill anyone on a whim but doesn’t seem to bother to go after the two people trying to build a case against them. And the plotting relies
Salinger looks so run-down and bleary eyed and unshaven that the movie eventually makes a joke out of it; he actually looks like a more depressed version of Owen’s character from Children of Men. And if I didn’t have a movie star crush on Watts, I might’ve been wondering why her character doesn’t have a personality.
But man, that Guggenheim sequence is awesome. Seriously. It’s just too bad there’s a half hour of movie left after it ends, none of which comes the slightest bit close to being as exciting — or worse, comes any closer to providing any sort of resolution. It’s too bad, given the reasonable amount of good material — if you add up all the pieces, The International is just about one half of a good thriller. Maybe theaters should charge half price.
Movie Grade: C
Official Synopsis:
Interpol Agent Louis Salinger and Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Eleanor Whitman are determined to bring to justice one of the world’s most powerful banks. Uncovering myriad and reprehensible illegal activities, Salinger and Whitman follow the money from Berlin to Milan to New York to Istanbul. Finding themselves in a high-stakes chase across the globe, their relentless tenacity puts their own lives at risk as their targets will stop at nothing — even murder — to continue financing terror and war.
I’ve been exploring for a little bit for any high-quality articles or weblog posts on this kind of space . Exploring in Yahoo I finally stumbled upon this website. Reading this information So i’m glad to convey that I’ve a very good uncanny feeling I discovered exactly what I needed. I such a lot unquestionably will make certain to don?t forget this site and give it a look regularly.
I¡¦ve read some just right stuff here. Definitely worth bookmarking for revisiting. I surprise how a lot effort you put to make this sort of fantastic informative website.
Great n I should certainly pronounce, impressed with your web site. I had no trouble navigating through all the tabs and related information ended up being truly easy to do to access. I recently found what I hoped for before you know it at all. Quite unusual. Is likely to appreciate it for those who add forums or anything, website theme . a tones way for your client to communicate. Nice task..
I truly value this article post. Really getting excited about visit our website. Amazing.
You make a lot of good points with this blog. Keep up the great function.
Keep up the superb work, I read few articles on this web site and I conceive that your blog is real interesting and has circles of fantastic info.
Great – I should definitely pronounce, impressed with your site. I had no trouble navigating through all tabs and related information ended up being truly easy to do to access. I recently found what I hoped for before you know it in the least. Reasonably unusual. Is likely to appreciate it for those who add forums or anything, website theme . a tones way for your customer to communicate. Excellent task.
F*ckinˇ¦ amazing things here. I am very satisfied to see your post. Thanks a lot and i’m taking a look forward to contact you. Will you please drop me a mail?
amazing, amazing weblog post.
Aw, it was a really good post. In concept I would like to devote writing such as this furthermore,?¡ìC spending time and specific function to produce a fantastic article?- nonetheless so what can I say?- I waste time alot and never at all appear to obtain 1 thing completed.
Superb read, I just passed this onto a colleague who was doing a little research on that. And he actually bought me lunch because I discovered it for him smile So let me rephrase that: Thanks for lunch!
Wow! what an idea ! What an idea ! Beautiful .. Wonderful … http://www.mygolfnews.net
May perhaps I simply disclose exactly what a university assistance to find one who essentially knows what they’re speaking about using the web. You really see how to deliver issues to help lightweight together with aid that it is really important. People ought to learn this particular and learn this kind of aspect of your respective background. I can’t expect about to catch really popular due to you simply receive the birthday gift.
I am continuously invstigating online for ideas that can benefit me. Thx!
You really make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find this matter to be really something which I think I would never understand. It seems too complicated and very broad for me. I am looking forward for your next post, I will try to get the hang of it!
There is actually apparently big money to identify with that. I suppose you made sure nice points in capabilities also.
Valuable information. Lucky me I discovered your web site accidentally, and I’m stunned why this twist of fate did not happened earlier! I bookmarked it.
Heya! I’m at work browsing your blog from my new iphone 4! Just wanted to say I love reading through your blog and look forward to all your posts! Carry on the fantastic work!
Find the data and feedback here very worthy read.
Hey there this is kind of of off topic but I was wanting to know if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with HTML. I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding skills so I wanted to get guidance from someone with experience. Any help would be enormously appreciated!
I really appreciate this post. I have been looking all over for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You’ve made my day! Thx again
Today, I visited the beach with my own kids. I identified a marine shell along with gave the idea to my personal 4 yr old child and said You are able to hear the particular ocean in case you put this in your ear. She put the layer to your ex ear as well as screamed. There had been a hermit crab inside and it pinched the woman’s ear. She never wants to return! LoL I am aware this is very off subject but I had to tell someone!
Congratulations on having one of the most sophisticated blogs Ive come across in some time! Its just incredible how much you can take away from something simply because of how visually beautiful it is. Youve put together a great blog space –great graphics, videos, layout. This is definitely a must-see blog!
I appreciate your effort in posting regularly. I find it impossible to come up with regular posts for my blogs. Perhaps I just don’t have the creative spirit. -
Hi! I could have sworn I’ve been to this site before but after reading through some of the post I realized it’s new to me. Nonetheless, I’m definitely delighted I found it and I’ll be book-marking and checking back often!
Good publish! GA can additionally be my greatest earning. However, it’s now not a much. http://www.techrentals.getlisted.co.nz/thermal-imaging-camera-cost
Hey…this is a wonderful website buddy!!! i am new here and i found this site very interesting and informative ,, you are a professional blogger…thank you for the post buddy and keep on posting nice stuff like this…and hat off to your work
Probably the greatest blogs I’ve seen thus far at this time, I hope you’ll be posting more of it. I will test again each week to see updates.
Are generally of the articles written you or have you hire a ghost writer?
I really appreciate this post. I’ve been looking all over for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You have made my day! Thanks again
I just now wanted to thank you one more time for your amazing site you have designed here. Its full of ideas for those who are truly interested in this particular subject, especially this very post. You’re really all amazingly sweet in addition to thoughtful of others and reading your blog posts is a fantastic delight with me. And such a generous present! Ben and I will certainly have pleasure making use of your ideas in what we must do in a month’s time. Our checklist is a mile long which means your tips will be put to very good use.
This design is wicked! You certainly know how to keep a reader entertained. Between your wit and your videos, I was almost moved to start my own blog (well, almost…HaHa!) Wonderful job. I really enjoyed what you had to say, and more than that, how you presented it. Too cool!
If only I actually realized making your site that you. Perhaps almost all I can accomplish is sit back as well as appreciate your posts. Do you possess regardless I could sign up and also allow you to write-up wonderful info as if you?
Zune and iPod: Most people compare the Zune to the Touch, but after seeing how slim and surprisingly small and light it is, I consider it to be a rather unique hybrid that combines qualities of both the Touch and the Nano. It’s very colorful and lovely OLED screen is slightly smaller than the touch screen, but the player itself feels quite a bit smaller and lighter. It weighs about 2/3 as much, and is noticeably smaller in width and height, while being just a hair thicker.
Terrific work! This is the type of information that should be shared around the web. Shame on the search engines for not positioning this post higher! Come on over and visit my web site . Thanks =)
Webmaster, I are the admin at SEOPlugins. org. We report SEO Extensions for WordPress websites for on-site as well as off-site SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION. I’d love to invite you to check out our current profile for the pretty amazing plugin which can double or perhaps triple traffic for a Worpdress web site. You can easily delete this particular comment, I didn’t desire to comment in your blog, just desired to drop that you simply personal concept. Thanks, Rich
It¡¦s actually a great and helpful piece of info. I¡¦m satisfied that you simply shared this helpful information with us. Please keep us informed like this. Thanks for sharing.
Hello there, I really liked viewing the information on web site. Many thanks
Awesome weblog. Much obliged.
I like montogomeries so much!! You look lovely as usual, but I hopw you don’t have bare legs!!! The shoes are awesome… very jealous!!
I dugg some of you post as I thought they were handy invaluable.
I want to say: Thank you!
I leave a response whenever I appreciate a article on a site or I have something to valuable to contribute to the discussion. Usually it is a result of the fire communicated in the article I looked at. And on this post The International Movie Review | The Cinema Source. I was actually moved enough to leave a thought ;-) I do have a couple of questions for you if it’s allright. Is it just me or do a few of these responses appear like written by brain dead individuals? :-P And, if you are writing on other places, I would like to follow you. Could you make a list all of all your community pages like your twitter feed, Facebook page or linkedin profile?
Excellent website. A lot of helpful information here. Iˇ¦m sending it to some buddies ans additionally sharing in delicious. And naturally, thank you on your sweat!
Cool have information , many thanks to them I learned more, I see where should go to learn.
Can I just say what a relief to find somebody who truly knows what theyre talking about on the internet. You undoubtedly know how one can carry a difficulty to mild and make it important. Extra folks must learn this and understand this side of the story. I cant consider youre no more widespread because you undoubtedly have the gift.
I like this web site very much, Its a real nice place to read and find info.
Hands down, Apple’s app store wins by a mile. It’s a huge selection of all sorts of apps vs a rather sad selection of a handful for Zune. Microsoft has plans, especially in the realm of games, but I’m not sure I’d want to bet on the future if this aspect is important to you. The iPod is a much better choice in that case.
I am and so tired of viewing junk on the net, eventually a well crafted and also unified write-up that is certainly in fact on the subject I am considering.
Very good publish, thank you so much for sharing. Do you happen to have an RSS feed I can subscribe to?
Hi, i think that i saw you visited my web site thus i came to “return the favorâ€.I am attempting to find things to improve my web site!I suppose its ok to use a few of your ideas!!
I write a leave a response whenever I especially enjoy a post on a site or if I have something to add to the conversation. Usually it is triggered by the fire displayed in the article I read. And on this post The International Movie Review | The Cinema Source. I was excited enough to leave a thought :-) I do have some questions for you if you don’t mind. Is it simply me or does it look like a few of the remarks look like left by brain dead people? :-P And, if you are posting at other sites, I would like to keep up with you. Could you list the complete urls of your communal sites like your Facebook page, twitter feed, or linkedin profile?
Thanks for sharing superb information. Your web-site is so cool. I am impressed by the details that you have on this web site. It reveals how nicely you perceive this subject. Bookmarked this website page, will come back for more articles.
Today, while I was at work, my sister stole my apple ipad and tested to see if it can survive a thirty foot drop, just so she can be a youtube sensation. My apple ipad is now broken and she has 83 views. I know this is totally off topic but I had to share it with someone!
Howdy, i read your blog from time to time and i own a similar one and i was just wondering if you get a lot of spam feedback? If so how do you prevent it, any plugin or anything you can advise? I get so much lately it’s driving me insane so any support is very much appreciated.
Browsing delicious.com I noticed your website book-marked as: Install Plugins » Somnangblogs. I’m assuming you book-marked it yourself and wanted to ask if social bookmarking gets you a good deal of targeted traffic? I’ve been considering doing some book-marking for a few of my sites but wasn’t certain if it would produce any positive results. Appreciate it.
I like this web blog very much, Its a very nice billet to learn and obtain info. If in the beginning you don’t succeed, you’re operating about regular. by Michael. H. Alderson.
Thank you for your refreshing survey. It had been a pleasure studying it. Seem forward to a lot more posts via you!
I adore your weblog.. very good colors & theme. Did you create this website yourself or did you hire someone to do it for you? Plz answer back as I’m seeking to create my own blog and would like to know where u got this from. thanks
I wanted to thank you once again for that amazing web site you have created here. It’s full of ideas for those who are definitely interested in this kind of subject, particularly this very post. Your all amazingly sweet and thoughtful of others and also reading your site posts is a good delight with me. And what generous gift! Tom and I usually have pleasure making use of your guidelines in what we need to do in the near future. Our record is a distance long and simply put tips will certainly be put to beneficial use.
I like this website so much, saved to fav. “I don’t care what is written about me so long as it isn’t true.” by Dorothy Parker.
An challenging language will be designer comment. I anticipate that you should indite statesman with this matter, it might not be a inhibition rule but normally fill are not enough to speak about much subjects. To the actual succeeding. Cheers similar to your Khmer Karaoke Megastars » Somnangblogs.
Do you know what the sweetest pain is in life?
I enjoy you because of all your hard work on this web page. Gloria delights in getting into investigation and it is obvious why. We hear all regarding the lively tactic you convey valuable guides via your blog and even increase participation from other people on that concern and our daughter is without question starting to learn a great deal. Take pleasure in the remaining portion of the new year. You are carrying out a wonderful job.
I think this is among the most vital info for me. And i’m glad reading your article. But should remark on few general things, The web site style is ideal, the articles is really excellent : D. Good job, cheers
Have you ever thought about writing an ebook or guest authoring on other blogs? I have a blog based on the same topics you discuss and would love to have you share some stories/information. I know my visitors would appreciate your work. If you are even remotely interested, feel free to shoot me an email.
Things i’ve observed when it comes to computer memory will be the fact you can find technical specs for instance SDRAM, DDR and the like, that must choose the requirements of the mother panel. If your pc’s motherboard is type of current while you’ll find no pc OS problems, upgrading the storage literally often takes under an hour or two. It’s among the easiest laptop or computer upgrade treatments one can possibly think regarding. Thanks for revealing your opinions.
Wow that was odd. I just wrote an very long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t appear. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyhow, just wanted to say superb blog!
This world wide web website is generally a walk-through rather than the details you wanted over it and didn’t know who need to. Glimpse right here, and you will surely find out it.
Nice article – that’s the kind of day I’m operating towards myself. Have to like the alternatives the Internet provides for marketers! https://www.lifereader.com/psychics/psychics
My brother suggested I might like this web site. He was totally right. This post truly made my day. You can not imagine just how much time I had spent for this information! Thanks!
Write more, thats all I have to say. Literally, it seems as though you relied on the video to make your point. You clearly know what youre talking about, why waste your intelligence on just posting videos to your blog when you could be giving us something enlightening to read?
Fantastic website you have here but I was curious about if you knew of any user discussion forums that cover the same topics discussed in this article? I’d really love to be a part of community where I can get feed-back from other knowledgeable people that share the same interest. If you have any recommendations, please let me know. Bless you!
Great write-up, I am normal visitor of one’s blog, maintain up the excellent operate, and It is going to be a regular visitor for a lengthy time.
It is actually perfect time for it to make some plans for the future which is a chance to be at liberty. Ive read this post and if I can I must suggest you few interesting things or advice. You could could write next articles speaking about the next few paragraphs. I would like to read a lot more things about it!
To start incomes money along with your weblog, initially use Google Adsense however regularly as your traffic will increase, preserve including an increasing quantity of money making packages on your site. http://www.demo.getlisted.co.nz/marketing-auckland
Super that you share all the news, because the messages and their transmission is relevant.
Hello. splendid job. I did not imagine this. This is a remarkable story. Thanks!
Between me personally and my hubby we’ve owned or operated more MP3 players in the past than I will count, including Sansas, iRivers, iPods (basic & touch), the Ibiza Rhapsody, etc. But, the last number of years I’ve settled into one line of players. Why? Because My partner and i was thrilled to discover just how well-designed and also fun to use the underappreciated (and widely mocked) Zunes tend to be.
hello generally there, your website is absolutely unquie. I really do thank a person for give good results
I have recently started a site, the information you offer on this website has helped me tremendously. Thanks for all of your time & work.
I just bookmarked The International Movie Review | The Cinema Source on Digg, hope this helps get you more visitors. Spot on using this type of write-up, I truly think this website needs a lot more consideration. I’ll likely be returning once again to read considerably more, thank you for the blog post it is great
You have remarked very interesting details! ps nice site.
Itˇ¦s really a great and useful piece of info. I am satisfied that you just shared this helpful info with us. Please stay us informed like this. Thank you for sharing.
Whats up very cool site!! Guy .. Excellent .. Wonderful .. I’ll bookmark your website and take the feeds also…I’m satisfied to find a lot of useful information right here within the put up, we want work out more techniques on this regard, thank you for sharing.
Thanks for sharing excellent informations. Your web site is so cool. I am impressed by the details that you have on this blog. It reveals how nicely you understand this subject. Bookmarked this website page, will come back for more articles. You, my friend, ROCK! I found just the information I already searched everywhere and simply could not come across. What an ideal site.
Hmm is anyone else encountering problems with the images on this blog loading? I’m trying to find out if its a problem on my end or if it’s the blog. Any responses would be greatly appreciated.
You have noted very interesting details! ps nice website.