The International

Like many people I was turned onto Tom Tykwer's work with LOLA RENTT (RUN, LOLA, RUN) so I was quite excited by the trailers for THE INTERNATIONAL. Yes, Clive Owen does a fair bit of running in this one sadly the story does not keep up with him. Speaking of Clive Owen, I honestly think he should take a sabbatical and go back to drama class. He's a fantastic actor but his bag of tricks seem worn in this feature, the same brooding face, same bursts of anger and you walk away with the impression they could have made this film with clips from all of his others. This may seem like an unfair bit of criticism but think about it, add a more range and deptch to his performances and his can go from great to truly brilliant. Back to the script, it's fair but a little on the thin and implausible side but this may be a necessary evil for time restraints. Still, if they had nixed Naomi Watts character, which serves very little purpose other than eye candy, they may have been able to put more meat on this sucker. Alas, this may not be point of THE INTERNATIONAL which when you boil it all down is a straight forward action thriller and in this department it delivers. Like the car chase from BULLIT the Guggenheim gun fight scene is destined to become a film classic and this sequence alone makes the film required viewing. Another thing I should point out is you may want to see this on the big screen to get the full effect of how Tykwer uses architecture to add to the ever present atmosphere of menace. on many levels a superb piece of work just could have done with a stronger script and a more satisfying conclusion.