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The International (2009)

Director: Tom Tykwer

Time Out rating

Average user rating

10 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

They fund regime change in unstable African nations and sell weapons to Israeli and Arab counterparts. Their financial tendrils are everywhere because real global power is about controlling debt. They are the International Bank of Business and Credit. Yes, the money men are the new villains in this timely thriller, which sets the rumpled integrity of Interpol agent Clive Owen and pinched determination of US investigator Naomi Watts on the trail of skullduggery resulting when the IBBC hires a ‘consultant’ (read: hitman) to cover its tracks. The quest for truth and justice involves a familiar parade of shady meetings, car chases, punch-ups and a truly spectacular shoot-out inside New York’s Guggenheim, though the increasingly scrambled plotting doesn’t quite measure up to director Tom Tykwer’s slinky, elegant handling of it.

Eventually, you just let the tangled double-crossing take care of itself and enjoy the way the film defiantly bucks the contemporary thriller trend for shaky-cam coverage and lightning cuts. Instead, there’s a slow-burning pleasure to be had from the pellucid clarity of Tykwer’s widescreen framing, the way he sets up scenes with an ominously stately aerial glide over cityscapes and gleaming modern architecture. While Owen does scruffy steeliness as well as any man alive, this is less about the performers than sustained subtle unease, adeptly orchestrated by the electric undertow of Tykwer, Reinhold and Klimek’s suavely insidious score. A shame, really, that the story folds in the final third, but for its sculptural qualities there’s much to savour here. Frank Lloyd Wright aficionados, prepare yourselves.

Author: Trevor Johnston

Time Out London Issue 2010, 26 Feb - 4 Mar, 2009

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User reviews of this film

Raghuram said...

Posted on May 13 2009 12:04 not much action scenes in the movie.. slow paced investigative movie..

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critique said...

Posted on Mar 12 2009 21:44 Gripping globe-trotting action thriller, worth the price of admission for the superb museum sequence alone.

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Madison said...

Posted on Mar 08 2009 07:51 Surprised this film is getting such bad comments. Even though you dont know whats going on 80% of the time, the classy cinematography and Clive Owen make up for it. It almost peaks to soon with the nailbiting museum sequence. If you prefer action films without the ADHD editing / repetitive cat and mouse plot of Bourne, you might enjoy this.

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Jim McQ said...

Posted on Mar 06 2009 08:45 Confirmation that Clive Owen is made of wood.

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Ruth said...

Posted on Mar 04 2009 00:31 Got to say, this was a bad version of a Bourne film. Poor acting, Bad dialogue. Confusing plot. Cultural stereotypes. Political statements left, right and centre. The music and cinematography, great in and of themselves, don't make up for it. I guess the blood and gore will make it more interesting for guys, but there's nothing in it for a woman whose worldview doesn't jive with the film's.

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gurpartapsinghgora said...

Posted on Mar 03 2009 16:43 i love acton movies

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gurpartapsinghgora said...

Posted on Mar 03 2009 16:41 i love to see action movies

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gurpartapsinghgora said...

Posted on Mar 03 2009 16:41 i love to see action movies

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REGGIE PERRIN said...

Posted on Mar 02 2009 16:39 Unfortunately, Clive Owen once again proves that he cannot carry a movie on his own. The gun play in the film is entertaining, but the rest of it is sterile and unengaging. Matt Damon has set the bench mark for this type of film and his only competition is Daniel Craig as 007.

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usman khawaja said...

Posted on Feb 28 2009 05:34 the review is very correct -loved the action piece in guggenheim museum and the agony in the garden piece in berlin museum too -

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