Thanks for the memories!

Better Late Then Never

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The Interpreter (2005): Dir: Sydney Pollack / Cast: Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn, Catherine Keener, Earl Cameron, Jesper Christensen: Tense and provocative thriller about translation and connection. Nicole Kidman plays an interpreter who was raised in Africa and she overhears an assassination plan. Sean Penn plays an investigator assigned to dissect claim or truth of her accusations. Great setup is very detailed and doesn't give in to conventions until dealing with a hinted innuendo. Directed by Sydney Pollack who makes details uncertain. He can expand any genre with films such as Tootsie and Absent of Malice. Kidman holds strong and takes viewers into the details of her job. She is skilled at her job but becomes involved in a struggle for survival when paranoia checks in mixed with consequences. Penn as the cop recently lost his wife to infidelity then to death. The issue with Penn is that he is a great actor positioned mainly as a potential romantic tease to Kidman. Catherine Keener as Penn's partner is another fine actor wasted in standard material that is beneath her. Earl Cameron as the political figure in question is not seen much but the role is polished with plot twists and facts that have Kidman taking aim. Perhaps the film's one weakness is that supporting characters aren't as well drawn as they should be. Tense thriller about operations and hearing things you shouldn't. Score: 9 / 10

I thought Nicole Kidman as an interpreter of some African language isn't believable at all and i couldn't get over it. The film itself is fine but making wrong casting choices can prove to be crucial for the credibility of the entire film. It's obvious that Kidman's much more believable as some upper-class housewife character than as the character who had lived and grown up in Africa.The usual pattern in Hollywood films is that the main character becomes a super hero and somehow fights against the evil. This time it's no different at all and the film may seem quite unsurprising as many events can be expected to take place.In my opinion this film isn't among Pollack's best movies mainly due to wrong casting choice. It's still watchable if you don't expect to see a masterpiece.

This might have been a very good movie. The setting and the idea are good, there is a pair of quality actors in leading roles, and the director is an established artist as well. Still in the end all you're left with is a sour taste in your mouth for all the lost potential.Both Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn do a great job here, very solid performances. Sydney Pollack does a good job keeping the strings attached, and up until the last 30 minutes of the movie everything looks very good save a few minor complaints. Then comes one of the largest plot holes I've seen in a movie of such quality up until then.Are you honestly telling me that if you're supposed to protect the life of a foreign head of state in the UN headquarters, and a person goes missing who both has a history of armed resistance against said head of state and bears a very strong personal grudge against him, AND possesses a key card with substantial clearance within the HQ, you aren't going to do as much as deactivate the key card on the double? Also, even if you don't deactivate the key card, you don't check if it's been used or not either when you do a security check of the building? And after this goofing around you manage to make yet another mistake, and leave the head of state alone and unguarded in a "safe room" that is apparently easily accessed by any interpreter and hasn't been double checked either for whether it's actually empty or not.Sorry, but I just won't take this. Such a string of amateurish mistakes might occur on a local police level maybe, if the worst goof-balls of the station happened to be on shift at the same time, but a secret service officer trained and dedicated for protecting high profile targets simply would not make them. The plot hole is big enough for several movies to slip through at the same time, and it completely ruins the entire film. That is a shame, because the makings for something much better were there.

for cast and director. for respect of rules of a thriller. but, in same time, predictable and forced in many scenes. in search of public, the love story is one of ingredients. and the sentimental agent is not really credible. but, it is a nice film. not great, not impressive. only nice. and interesting for the acting of Kidman and Penn.but, nothing more. not convincing, not powerful. only new form for old essence. war for justice, the woman crusader, the problems of Africa, pink definition for an organization under American control, moral victory and presence of Polanski. its basic sin - the expectations. but it is not so great.