Genres

Visitors Review

JoeytheBrit 2012-05-23 13:03:28

Could have been interesting, but they took the road to avoid it...

Can there be a more boring title for a film than the name of a bank -even one called The International? God forbid the name of the bank inthis film had been Lloyds TSB or Barclays - the writers would have beenforced to use a little imagination in thinking up a title for theirfilm. The only other movie with a film as its title that I can recallis Lloyds of London. That's a dull title also, but at least it's backedup by a fast-moving and interesting story. This international thriller- that incredible set-piece aside - is about exciting as, well,standing in a queue at your local bank.Clive Owen is an agent for Interpol, a former Scotland Yard cop whoburned out after taking the fall for a high-profile case thatcollapsed. He teams up with US cop Naomi Watts to catch some dastardlycorporate bank involved in the arms trade industry and to give the filmmore of a chance of finding some success in the all-important USmarket.The story in the film is basically very simple but told in such a dulland convoluted way that the blistering shoot-out set in the Guggenheimfeels as if it belongs in another film entirely: one with a lively paceand absorbing action. The International's script is incredibly weak tothe point that reasonably competent actors like Owen and Watts struggleto avoid sounding amateurish as they speak their lines. Owen is inultra-intense mode throughout, but is given no back-story - other thana brief explanation about his breakdown - to explain why he is sodriven. Watts' background - a long-suffering hubbie and kids back inthe US - is briefly touched upon before being completely forgotten and,like a piece of unwieldy luggage, her character is jettisoned beforethe film's downbeat finale, apparently for no other reason than thewriter(s) - I can't even be bothered to look him/her/them up - can'tthink of a way to involve her in the final scenes.The only character of any interest is that of Wexler, played by thedependable Armin Mueller-Stahl, but both he and his character are givenlittle opportunity to make as much an impression as they might.Certainly, if the film had taken the time to explore the principalcharacters a little further rather than reaching for a complexinternational corporate thriller status, there might have beensomething here worth praising. Sadly, they took the road to avoid it..

Dickhead_Marcus_Halberstram 2012-05-23 04:17:51

Great mystery/investigative thriller, beautifully shot by Tom Tykwer

I'm a fan of German director Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run, The Princess AndThe Warrior, Heaven, Perfume: The Story Of A Murderer). The storyseemed like a different direction for him, so this was a must see forme.First, the only problem I had with the film is the screenplay, somecontrived lines, especially in the third act, stick out. The dialoguereally tries to force the theme down the viewers throat. Other thanthat, everything else was top notch. The way the story is set up andfleshed out was engrossing to me. I like a film that lets the viewerfigure it out for themselves. It's got a classic mystery set up, wherethe viewer is in the shoes of the protagonist, we get to figure it outalong with him as he unravels it.Clive Owen and Naomi Watts were decent, but not really stretching thereacting legs here. The cinematography and locations were beautiful,filmed in a neo-noirish blue/grey color palette with lots of wide angleshots of the characters dwarfed by the urban architecture. The shootoutwas very well done and more realistic and grittier than the usualaction set piece.It actually reminded me of a Michael Mann film.

2012-05-21 00:44:52

Best criminal suspense film of 2009

Lots of crime movies come out of Hollywood every year. Many of them deal with secret agents gone awol, being betrayed, or doing something they shouldn't be. Many of these films are played out in the context of the Cold War, drug smuggling, the illegal arms trade, and other criminal activities. But the one thing they all share is that they do not even come close to alluding to real life events or people. Until now, with this 2009 release. The movie follows the ordeal of an Interpol agent and a US assistant district attorney in their investigation of an international bank called IBBC that is suspected of weapons dealing. The IBBC itself is ruled by a group of very wealthy individuals from numerous countries, and they are linked to political leaders around the world. For those in the know, the acronym IBBC is a strong allusion to the actual entity BCCI, a multinational bank staffed by well-connected individuals. The IBBC, like the real-life entity BCCI, uses its political connections to provide weapons to various countries. These countries then use the weapons to wage wars which put them into debt, debt to the IBBC. This theory is not new, and there are many history books examining the role of debt to the Rothschild banking empire in the European wars of the 1800s. The use of debt to control countries is also a common theme in modern history, with the IMF and WTO being the guilty culprits here. All of this information is revealed to the movie's protagonists over the course of the film. The movie also features some great gun-fight scenes and some good dialogue. Great movie overall.

vostf 2012-05-20 13:18:16

Visually intriguing, narratively flat

I have not much more to add to the "Exquisitely shot but problematic",11 February 2009 comment by C-Younkin. The International is interestingin the way it's shot, in the fact that Clive Owen plays the maincharacter, but all the rest proves to be a letdown.It's all too easy to say the director wasn't helped by a limitedscript. In this case the director is also supposed to be more than ajourneyman shedding words into images. Thus, there are certainly acouple of people to be blamed here for this story which starts up OKthen only becomes too obvious despite the explanatory bits and partsthat would want to make a McGuffin into the main character.Here's the rub: the story has to be about the IBBC bank headquarteredin Luxembourg. The bank is gradually embodied by its top executives (weeven get a glimpse of the main one at home with family). So, instead ofhaving an "invisible enemy" suspenseful movie, we get a story thatbecomes too pleased with plot details and forgets to build suspense asthe storyline sends us from one location to another.What surely didn't help is that they pushed back the release by 6months to market it more like an action movie. The supposedly climaxsequence at the Guggenheim museum is a shame, prompting one to totallyforget the director was really good up to that point. Clive Owenagainst a mysterious banking organization: that should have been thepremise to build upon to keep it tense and suspenseful till a seriouslyworked out ending.

Morad Elshehabi 2012-05-16 00:25:20

a good movie to watch

i just finished watching the movie couple of ours ago. it is a reallygood movie i gave it 8/10 just because there is nothing "super" in itotherwise the movie is great in all manners . the story is pretty good, the acting is very good too . Clive Owen left his prints and uniqueperformance with good bu not too good acting by Naomi Watts. there isno too much action in the most on the movie parts , neither the usuallove story in every movie , no sex no relationships , no that much ofemotion bla bla bla all of this makes the movie more realistic but youwill feel that something is kinda messing comparing with other moviesin the same category . the story is not that complicated it is simpleand clear not charging any country neither clear them out of every badthing in this world everybody is guilty . anyway i find this movie very good . i recommend it for a nice night .you will enjoy it .

Foobarman 2012-05-15 17:35:59

Best Thriller of 2009!

The International is truly an excellent thriller. I entered the theaterexpecting a 7.5/10 - but it was way better than that. This movie isdefinitely 9/10. The advertisements were a total dis-service to thefilm - it was quite a bit better than what I expected based on theadvertisements.This movie may have gotten a 6.9/10 and the ads don't make the movielook promising - but I totally recommend everyone who lovesaction/thriller movies to watch this.From the very first minute of this movie - it was thrilling,suspenseful and exciting. The actors were chosen perfectly and suitedthe characters excellently, and the camera work was also spectacular.This film is basically about a large bank that controls so much and isusing its money for illegal things. The main character - Louis Salinger- is trying to stop this bank.There is plenty of action and thrills throughout this movie and it istruly enjoyable to watch. Simply terrific.

kosmasp 2012-05-10 16:51:08

Wasted

Potentially there is quite a few things to be found here. Under thesurface so to speak. A thriller, especially this, has to be careful notto drift into TV movie of the week category. Actors wise it doesn'tseem to have this problem.But then again Naomi Watts doesn't really get utilized and even thecharismatic Clive Owen, can't do everything by himself. While it has astrong mystery beginning, that keeps you guessing and keeps you kindathrilled, it never get's really great.And with the ending ... well endings can save or destroy a movie. Inthis case, neither happens. It just fits into the mood of the movie andstays mediocre. And it's a shame, because the ending could/should havebeen emotionally more involving (I'm not saying why, you have to watchthe movie or read that in another review with spoilers), but itunfortunately doesn't achieve just that ...

sol 2012-05-10 03:41:23

Be ready for the smack-down. He's gonna be coming at you hot!

(There are Spoilers) Having been released at the time of the biggestfinancial meltdown-with the banking industry leading the way-since theGreat Depression the film "The International" got the unique andunexpected kind of free publicity that no amount of money andadvertisement could buy. Still it didn't set the box office on firemostly because with people losing their jobs savings and homes theydidn't flock to the theaters in that they couldn't afford the ten ormore dollars, that they needed to pay their bills, to see the film.The movie has though as nails Interpol Agent Louis Salinger, CliveOwens, take on the money laundering and illegal arms selling IBBC Bankin that he has a personal grudge against it. The bank had one of itspaid hit-men, Orian F. O'Byrne, knock off his friend and partner ThomasSchumer, Ian Burfield, together with having his inside man, at IBBC,Andre Celment, Georges Bigot, killed in a suspicious car accident.The film has Agent Salinger globe hopping all across Europe ending upin Istanbul Turkey attending a funeral, that he wasn't invited to,where he finally confronts the bank's corrupt president Jonas Skansser,Ulrich Thomsen, for the final showdown! Inbetween all this action wehave Salinger together with his NYPD allies detectives Iggy & Bernie,Felix Solis & Jack McGee, track down Schumer's killer in New YorkCity's famed Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. The shoot-out at the museumis without a doubt the highlight of the film with Salinger having itout with not only the hit-man, who later switches sides, but some dozengoons working for the IBBC bank there to make sure that both he, andthe hit-man, don't leave the place alive.There's also Salinger's very reluctant partner NYC Assistant DistrictAttorney Eleanor Whitman, Naomi Watts, who later completely disappearsfrom view. It's as if she, actress Watts, just got sick and tired ofwhere the movie was going and just walked off the set with over a halfhour of running time left. What really ends up doing IBBC bank President Skarssen in is acombination of under the table arms sales that he secretly financesbetween Israel and Israel's bitter enemies Syrian and Iran. Trying toplay both sides against the middle Skarssen sells the Syrians andIranians a state-off-the art missile system to use in the event of awar with the Israelis. But what the Syrian and Iranian governmentsdon't know is that at the same time Skarssen sells the Israelis thecodes to that system that, in jamming the missile, renders that very upto date and sophisticated system totally useless. Knowing that if theSyrian and Iranian governments realize what a two-timing rat that heSkarssen is they'll withdraw their money leaving his bank, thatinvested billions in its dealings with them, penniless!***SPOILER*** There's also the matter of Skarssen having top Italianarms dealer and future president Umberto Calvini, Luca Barbareschi,being assassinated when he refused to go along with him, in an illegalarms deal with China, by one of his contracted hit-men, the oneinvolved in Agent Schumer's murder, during a rally in Milan. It wasthat more then anything else that lead to IBBC President Skarssensignominious downfall at the end of the movie. Besides being a majorEuropean arms dealer Calvini also had close Mafia ties who, like AgentSalinger, had no fear at all of the power that Skarssen wheeled. Oncethe Mob got the news, very probably from Agent Salinger, that Skarssenwas behind Calvini's murder his money laundering and illegal armsdealing, as well as contract assassin, days were numbered.

wacoastguy 2012-05-08 01:43:23

The International: Voodoo global economics

I have read a couple of reviews really panning this movie as beingtotally unbelievable, but after reading some excellent books recentlyby author Jim Marrs (such as "Rule by Secrecy") I did not struggle toimagine that this movie's plot (voodoo international economics) wastotally feasible. For those who are disturbed by the recent economicmeltdown and how it ties into global money-grubbing at all costs, "TheInternational" does a pretty good job of showing how a global economyis only beneficial for a small handful of people. Where this moviesfails is that it is overly complicated and comes across as just anotherClive Owen shoot-em-up B-movie.

jamiemarks-1 2012-05-07 15:36:21

An intelligent thriller that is intellectually stimulating and highly entertaining.

The International directed by director Tom Tykwer best known for RunLola Run (1999), which was an excellent film directs this with the samepanache. The plot consists of Interpol agent Louis Sallinger assistingthe district court attorney's office in New York, with one attorney inparticularly Eleanor Whitman,(Naomi Watts) leading the case ininvestigating a bank the IBBC (the International Bank of Business andCredit), which it's executives and bankers are involved in organisedand financial crime. Throughout we see Sallinger and Whitman try andbring the bank down with the assistance of various police officers incountries like Germany,Italy and America. The main strength of thisfilm and the reason to see this is the story, it is very engaging andexplores in great content the system of banking and capitalism and howsome bankers in a high position of power will use itindividualistically and collectively to achieve their own ends. It'salso something of an interest to me considering most films I've seendeal with other types of criminals, never bankers, which makes thisrefreshing. It is also very topical in terms of being relevant to thetimes of 2009 and still now, with the credit crunch and stories of somebankers becoming receiving vast bonuses, which they didn't all deserveconsidering they were part of the reason for the economic instabilityglobally. Another great strength is the script, which has sharp,intelligent dialogue and gives the film a professional tone coincidingwith the story. The acting is excellent with Clive Owen and Naomi Watts though I wasapprehensive about Owen's dry and deep voice but he still manages toinject emotion into the role. Watts plays a role that is underused andI think has been underrated as she is terrific. Tykwer also directswith superb editing and shots. One thing that did let The Internationaldown from being a brilliant film and could have become a classic (hencethe eight out of ten rating) is the lack of the external spectacle(action). Looking back at the trailer, though it is short, Tykwer hasmade the error of showing the few action moments that are in there,which can lead to the audience being deliberately mislead into thinkingthis is an adrenaline action thriller. The first half hour of the filmcould have had a bit more pace in terms of some action, but it is stillhighly watchable. The one action sequence that it does have is aspectacularly choreographed shoot-out at the Guggenheim Museum, whichhad plenty of suspense and tension with some breathtaking stunts. Ithink this film is aimed more at a niche audience as it is quiteintellectual. Even though I didn't understand everything about what thebankers were talking about, it was still interesting. Be warned asbefore this isn't an action thriller and if you want action it's bestto give this a miss. The International for me though was one of thebest effort films of 2009 and is a nearly perfect thriller, which iswell worth seeing if you want to engage the mind.

2012-05-01 19:17:50

Half a bag of popcorn

The gunfight in the Guggenheim Museum is the whatever of the movie and it was childish. To break down the movie it's a nasty German enabling the destruction of those forever victims Israelis.Maybe I'm jaded but I wouldn't be writing this but the movie was a boring stinko and am disappointed.

2012-05-01 12:45:43

The International

This review is from: The International (DVD) While I had seen this movie in the theater, its similarity to current world happenings caused me to want to see it again. I enjoyed it as much the second time as the first.

Luigi Di Pilla 2012-04-24 13:18:17

This thriller didn't convince me

This movie tried to be entertaining like James Bond but in my opinionthere are two problems with this thriller: first, I missed a certainkick of adrenaline where the film starts really through with action andsuspense. Second, I couldn't feel a clear dramatical dynamic. Why? Thepuzzle of this case didn't come over to me till the end. For examplewhy came so many killers in the Retonde from New York and who orderedthem to come in this building? How did they know? Who really were thesemysterious counter parties for the arm deals? This took away the speed.Then the cinematography was not at its best except the scenes inIstanbul. Therefore Clive Owen delivered after DERAILED another solidand convincing role as agent Salinger. THE INTERNATIONAL kept anyway myattention but as I mentioned there were some opened questions at theend. At least the story sends a clear warning message to all the banks.For all these reasons it's just an average thriller with a 5/10.

webcrind 2012-04-23 20:52:16

Pathetic story

I am a big fan of Tykwer, he could be the new Scorcese and so far Ihave not seen a bad flick starring Clive Owen. And yet, this movie is acomplete let-down: a pathetic story about an obscure bank dealing inthe arm trade ( what is the surprise here or the story for a plot?), auseless female lead ( Watts' part could have been played by a largenumber of actresses) and a waste of Stahl's talent. This movie is sodeeply flawed, that the plot holes are the size of the Guggenheimmuseum. The final shootout in the before mentioned building islaughable and could have been directed much better with a director likeStallone at the helm. For a guy to direct movies like Run Lola Run andWinterland, The International is a complete waste of talent and money.And again: there is no plot.

An-Xphile 2012-04-17 18:16:35

Boooooooooooring

So much for this being the thriller to watch if you don't likethrillers. I like all kinds of movies except one: long boring ones. Andone of my favourite films is The English Patient! That's how boringthis film is. Even Clive Owen thinks it's boring that's why he couldhardly be bothered to act during the whole thing. Except when he got sofrustrated he just acted angry. Save yourself two looooong hours oftrying to stay awake and watch something else. I assure you you won'teven care what the 'bad guys' are conspiring to do! I'll concede thatthe ending was a little exciting but after waiting an hour and a halffor it, it just didn't seem worth it. I wish I had spent my eveningre-watching the terminator movies and picking plot holes in TerminatorSalvation like I had planned.

garyvanhorn 2012-04-17 02:58:20

Very average, rather forgettable.

It takes awhile for the plot of The International to get going, so beprepared. When it does finally take off we find that an evilmultinational banking institution has embarked on a Machiavellian plotto corner the market in small arms sales. To facilitate this ambitiousscheme they have bribed politicians, police, banks, arms dealers, andjust about everyone else in the entire EU, everyone is in on it, andthose that aren't meet carefully calculated ends at the hands of hiredassassins, all made to look like accidents of course. The plot is a bittoo Byzantine for my taste and at times becomes somewhat difficult tofollow (perhaps it was because my eyelids were a bit droopy in thebeginning). When things do coalesce about halfway into the film itbecomes rather good. The near capture of the assassin at the GuggenheimMuseum in New York is particularly enjoyable. The film actually has arealistic ending that, for some, might not be very satisfying. I likedit because it was different, not everything came up roses, but itwasn't a completely tragic ending either. The International isn't a badmovie but I have definitely seen better.

Claudio Carvalho 2012-04-15 23:50:22

Surprisingly Effective Blockbuster Thriller

The Interpol Agent Louis Salinger (Clive Owen) and his partner areinvestigating the International Bank of Business and Credit (IBBC) in ajoint operation with the District Attorney Eleanor Whitman (NaomiWatts) from Manhattan in a two hundred million dollars illegal businessof weapons trading. They schedule a meeting with an insider informerfrom IBBC at the Central Station in Berlin; however his partner ismysteriously killed after the encounter. Salinger finds the identity ofthe informer when he sees that the Vice President of Acquisitions AndréClement (Georges Bigot) had died in a car accident. Salinger andWhitman head to Milan where they meet the politician Umberto Calvini(Luca Giorgio Barbareschi), who is great manufacturer of arms, and heexplains that IBBC is interested in buying the missile guiding systemthat he produces in his factory. When Calvini is murdered by a sniperin a political rally, Salinger and Whitman head to New York followingthe killer and later to Istanbul, and disclose a scheme of arms supplyand destabilization of governments to make their nations slaves ofdebt. Further, the bank is protected by legal systems and only ifSalinger crosses the line he might bring some justice to the corruptsystem. "The International" is a surprisingly effective blockbuster thriller. Ihad lower expectations with this movie, but I really liked it. Thecomplex story of corruption and greedy has flaws, but holds theattention of the viewer until the last scene. The way Louis Salingereasily travels to many countries is strange, since we simple mortalsneed documentation, money, reservations, connections in the airports,but his character has no problem even when he is chased by the police.In Guggenheim, the always effective police force of the movies takes along time to come to the place and arrives only after the shooting. Myvote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Trama International" ("International Plot")

João Pedro Tomás 2012-04-15 17:00:20

Average political/corruption thriller

On the first hand I really thought I saw a good movie-- I even rated it9. But now, it goes 2 months after I watched the movie, and from what Iremember, this wasn't such a good picture. Sure, it was quiteinteresting, but we have already seen this on Michael Clayton or manyothers.The plot focuses on a Interpol agent (an European agency rarelyremembered in Hollywood) who decides to take down corruption at anEuropean bank, the script following true facts. But the ending issomething done in a rush, there is no drama, no thoughtful orinspirational dialog. I tell you something: if life was like this, ifcorruption was something to be taken down as a revenge plot, then therewouldn't be almost anybody in the world.So, Eric Singer delivered a good idea, tried to put the real concept inthe screen but somehow, maybe in a rush (I don't know), the screenplaydidn't quite work. Then, poorly created dialog and childish storydoesn't show us anything we didn't know before.But Tom Tykwer is a natural born director. He had already work inPerfume - Story Of A Murderer and International has nice shots overall.His recent collaboration as a translator to the Tarantino movie leaveus with the idea that he is some sort of Tarantino apprentice.Let me explain: The International have a few props only, long dialogsand good cinematography in action scenes. In this sector, there is onescene in particular - the one with some kind of glass rooftop - whichis very well filmed.But, for those of you who are trying to watch The International becauseit could be something different... look elsewhere. It's nothing youhadn't already see before. But if you really want to see it, because ofClive Owen voice, or Naomi Watts beauty - she's getting old, so hurryup fellas! - or even because you don't have nothing else to do, thenwatch it. B+

jemps918 2012-04-11 15:26:18

Fabulous

"Sometimes you find your destiny on the road you took to avoid it." -Louis Salinger Art imitates life in the tight thriller The International by talenteddirector Tom Tykwer (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, Paris, jet'aime). An original screenplay by screenwriter Eric Singer, the titlerefers to the International Bank of Business and Credit (IBBC), amighty global bank involved in illicit activities and corruption,purportedly patterned after real corporations, the Permindex TradeOrganization of Canada and the Bank of Credit and CommerceInternational of Pakistan.Louis Salinger (Clive Owen) is a scruffy Interpol guy whose partnergets killed in the middle of their investigation of the IBBC. He getshelp from his American counterpart Eleanor Whitman (Naomi Watts), whoallows him to get as close to the truth as possible, putting her ownlife on the line. The pair jetset all over the world in pursuit ofcharacters who could help them take down the impenetrable IBBC. But thetruth gets more difficult to swallow when they realize how deeplyinfected the whole system has already become, threatening to take notjust the guilty down.Tykwer employs his trademark crisp visuals to tell what could have beena very complicated story really well. Owen's performance is just right,and while Watts' is, too, I couldn't help but be distracted by howyoung and fresh she looked to be playing her character. The rest of thesupporting cast deliver the chills, and so do the memorable actionsequences, particularly the one in the Guggenheim Museum and the piazzain Milan.

2012-04-11 06:45:19

Throwaway enjoyablity

This review is from: The International (DVD) This is fun if not a little convoluted and often unbelievable. The premise dealing with a major financial corporation and the ends to which it will go to protect itself is quite frightening. Overall, okay.