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The International, 2009

The International

English, Italian, French

USA, Germany, UK

Rating:6.5
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Profile of The International

The mood of The International is suspenseful and exciting. The plot centers around political corruption, unlikely criminals, and special agents. It is a thriller and action movie. In approach, The International is serious and realistic. The setting is New York. It happens in contemporary times. Note that The International includes profanity and violent content.

Summary of The International

Released in a post-globalization economy teetering on the brink of a depression, THE INTERNATIONAL admirably stays in step with its time. Screenwriter Eric Singer hangs this man-against-the-machine action-thriller not on the Russians, North Koreans, or turncoats in the C.I.A., but on the I.B.B.C., an international bank that wields power through crippling debt. With villains like these, viewers fretting over their own mortgage rates will find themselves rooting zealously for these crooked financiers to fall hard. Interpol agent Louis Salinger (Clive Owen) and his partner, New York Assistant D.A. Eleanor Whitman (the somewhat underused Naomi Watts), are consistently stonewalled by local law enforcement in their attempt to close in on the bank’s insiders. The conflict deepens two-fold as Salinger discovers not only how wide the bank’s nefarious influence spreads, but how loosely he will act within legal boundaries to get his man. Owen elevates the at-times standard espionage plot devices with his now trademark (but always riveting) me-against-the-worldisms: his hard-edged focus and steely moral clarity. Armin Mueller-Stahl also stands out in the cast as a weathered ex-communist revolutionary now finding himself in the epicenter of capitalist corruption.

With spirited but tight direction, Tom Tykwer (of RUN, LOLA, RUN and THE PRINCESS AND THE WARRIOR fame) emphasizes longer action sequences and a more developed narrative arc than many contemporary post-BOURNE IDENTITY thrillers. The film’s centerpiece--an incredible shoot-out in the Guggenheim Museum with flying plaster, shattering installations, and shifting loyalties--reads like a disaster movie for the highbrow set as art lovers everywhere will experience a perverse thrill watching the museum’s famed spiral shot up by I.B.B.C. thugs.

Details

Language: English, Italian, French
Country: USA, Germany, UK
Release date: 13 February 2009
Runtime: 118 min

Cast and Crew

Clive Owen as Louis Salinger in The International
Clive Owen

as Louis Salinger

Naomi Watts as Eleanor Whitman in The International
Naomi Watts

as Eleanor Whitman

Armin Mueller-Stahl as Wilhelm Wexler in The International
Armin Mueller-Stahl

as Wilhelm Wexler

Photos

The International (2009)
The International (2009)
The International (2009)
The International (2009)

Clips

The International
The International: Trailer
The International
The International: Trailer
The International
The International: Trailer

Critics Reviews

San Francisco Chronicle
Won't go down as an action thriller for the record books, but it's a pretty good one for right now. First of all, the villain is a bank. How's that for timing?
Salon.com
This is a thriller where the cutting, even in most of the action sequences, is meticulous but leisurely. The elaborate set pieces are so beautifully worked out that you could take them apart, shot by shot, and fit the pieces back together like an...

Users Reviews

The International is smart, complicated and intense. It's not really the action movie it's marketed to be. It's a lot of talking, a little stalking, and a bit of gunfighting. There's no car chase, no explosions and Clive Owen certainly didn't need...
There are a lot of good conspiracy action thrillers to be had out there... this isnt one of them. This is too predictable with too many caricatures and too little depth on any character. Clive Owen appears to be phoning this one in - and I cant...
Likely to see
Not for me

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