The Interpreter (2005)
Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn, Sidney Pollack, Earl Cameron, Catherine Kenner

The Interpreter is excellent. It has been a while since I have seen a movie this good. Director Sidney Pollack has brought together an interesting and believable cast for "The Interpreter". Nicole Kidman is Silvia Broome, an interpreter for the United Nations. While leaving the U.N. she overhears a plot to kill an African head of state, Zuwanie (Earl Cameron), who has been accused of genocide in his own country, Matobo; and inadvertently becomes a witness to a [potential] international assassination. Zuwani is coming to New York to address the General Assembly where he will deny all charges. When Broome reports what she has heard, no one believes her assassination attempt story. Broome takes a lie detector test which shows that she may or may not be lying, or that she may be under a great deal of stress. There is too much at stake to dismiss Broome’s story, because as Secret Service head, Jay Pettigrew (played by film director Sydney Pollack) says, the assassination of a foreign leader is the last thing we need on American soil. As a precaution, he assigns agents Tobin Keller (Sean Penn) and Dot Woods (Catherine Keener) to protect and watch her. There is certain weariness about Penn’s Keller that makes him real and likable. His character here is much like his Jimmy Markham character in "Mystic River" (2003). Agent Keller does not believe that Broome is telling all she knows and digs into her past to find the truth. We later learn that Broome is from the same country that the African head of state is from, and that her parents, and eventually her brother were killed there. So among others, she also has reason to want Zuwanie dead.

The "Interpreter script" is good and mostly believable. You do have your car chases and explosions in this movie action-filled movie, but you also have your key people riding buses as a great many people do in New York City. Surprisingly there is no sex in this movie, just a few tender moments which makes it more credible. The driving movie score is amazing; it keeps your adrenaline moving.

One of the exciting things about this movie is that this movie was actually filmed in the United Nations building in New York. Director Sydney Pollack had to meet with Kofi Anan, Secretary-General of the United Nations for permission to film inside the UN. Other shooting locations for The Interpreter include Mozambique, Jersey City, New Jersey, and JFK International Airport.

Rated PG-13

~Vanette Ryanes

Vanette Ryanes is a true movie maven. She has been an avid movie fan for more than 35 years and has a video library of 200 plus movies. She has a vast knowledge of classic black and white, noir and vintage color movies. If you have questions about movies contact Vanette, (Vannie to her friends) for answers, advice and recommendations. 

Photo: The Interpreter Movie Poster allposters.com