Movie Review - The International (2009)

Starring Clive Owen, Naomi Watts, and Armin Mueller-Stahl
Directed by Tom Tykwer

After watching all the movies I've watched this year, I can't help but think that they don't really make "smart" movies in Hollywood anymore. Sure, your indie filmmakers may produce small gems like In the Loop or Surveillance or Jerichow, but big studios seem to shy away from adult-oriented flicks anymore (not completely...but these flicks are few and far between). It's unfortunate because I feel like there's a market there (and maybe I'm the only person in that market), but they don't produce that stuff anymore...and when they do produce flicks that fit into that category -- like The International -- it's even more unfortunate (to me) when the flick can't deliver the goods.

Now, this movie wasn't bad by any means...it's just a little bit too convoluted for its own good. The story's too complicated to go into detail here, but essentially there's this European bank that is providing third world countries with weaponry and Clive Owen's Louis Salinger from Interpol and Naomi Watts's Elle Whitman from the NYC District Attorney's office are going to take them down (don't ask me why the NYC District Attorney's office is involved...it was explained at the beginning of the flick, but there was much too much unnecessary information thrown at me since then and I can't remember for the life of me the reasoning). On the whole, the plot is intriguing, but like I said, the writers throw in too much for their own good.

The movie took a while to get started. Thirty minutes in, I honestly was bored out of my mind. However, the film picks up steam at about the 45-minute mark and is certainly intriguing the rest of the way. There's some really great scenes -- one of which involves the Guggenheim Museum in NYC that was incredibly tense and wonderfully shot -- and these scenes make the film come alive in its second and third acts. I must say that even in the boring first act, the film always looked good...the film made great use of its European and New York City settings.

I found Clive Owen and Naomi Watts to be quite good here. Watts isn't really given a whole lot to do except stand around, but I'm starting to like Clive Owen more and more as an actor. He brings a machismo to the screen (you believe him when he's holding a gun), but he's absolutely a talented actor as well. And supporting actor Armin Mueller-Stahl (a name you may not be familiar with, but you'd recognize his face) was impressive.

There's certainly good here, but the lackluster story brings the flick down. It's going to fall into the "recommended for some" category...if you watch it, prepare yourself for a long initial 30-45 minutes before it picks up some steam.

The RyMickey Rating: C