The International

Review by Anthony Morris
View Trailer : The International

Between the fine work of Misters Bourne and Bond, spy movies are doing pretty well these days - which is a bit of a problem for The International. 

It is easy to be kick arse when you are working in a genre that basically sucks (so anyone interested in making a trashy action movie or Australian comedy, the time to strike is right now) but when everyone else is working at the top of their game it doesn’t leave you a lot of room to maneuver. 

So The International gets bonus points for trying something different.

Unfortunately, the something different that it tries occasionally looks like a whole lot of plot that doesn't add up to a great deal of excitement. 

Basically, Lou Salinger (Clive Owen) is an Interpol agent investigating the evil IBBC bank, which is more evil than your regular bank thanks to its habit of making money by funding revolutions and murdering its employees. 

Currently they are looking to branch out into arms deals, and only Lou and New York D.A. Ella (Naomi Watts) can stop them from making, well, some evil deal that is clearly going to be evil.

Because if it wasn't, why would the bank be bribing the cops and having politicians killed? 

Most of this film is taken up with the kind of plot that you have to pay pretty close attention to if you want to know why certain developments are Bad News.

Sadly, the reward doesn't really equal the effort required unless you are a big fan of modern architecture - because there are a heck of lot of pretty cool looking office blocks here for Lou to storm out of after he gets stonewalled yet again. 

Fortunately, Clive Owen gives another top performance as a "Stressed Out Guy Trying To Do The Right Thing In A World That Does Not Care", and getting to see him look haggard is almost enough fun to make up for the previously mentioned take-notes plot. 

And in the middle of the film there is an amazing ten minute shoot-out in New York's Guggenheim gallery that seems to function half as a wake-up call, half as reminder that if they had felt like it they could have made another Bourne or Bond style movie if they'd wanted to.

... And it totally would have kicked arse.

3 out of 5

The International
Australian release: 19th February, 2009
Official Site: The International
Cast: Clive Owen, Naomi Watts, Jack McGee, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Ulrich Thomsen, James Rebhorn
Director: Tom Tykwer