"BEHIND THE SCENES"

Witness or accomplice? Victim or suspect?
What would you do if you overheard something you shouldn't hear, something that could significantly jeopardize your life? Certainly, without a doubt, you'd share this with an authority. But say you asked for professional help, and they didn't believe you. You'd find yourself in a position where there's no one to trust.
What Silvia Broome, an interpreter at the UN, comes across is just such an event. By unintentionally overhearing a conversation, she imperils her life. But no one believes her story, especially secret service agent Tobin Keller, who at first thinks she's lying. But later on, he tells his boss: "I prefer to make the mistake of believing her, rather than of not believing her" (considering the possible catastrophic outcome of that). The film then proceeds around what happens to Silvia. Her situation becomes more dangerous with each passing minute, since the deeper Tobin digs into her secretive life, the more suspicious he becomes about her, especially in view of her international connections.
"The Interpreter" is a taut thriller from respected director Sydney Pollack (who has directed other compelling films in this genre like "Three Days of the Condor" and "Absence of Malice"). The lead roles are performed by Sean Penn (Tobin) and Nicole Kidman (Silvia). "The Interpreter" also has a special feature shared by no other movie. It is the first movie that was allowed to be filmed on location in and around the United Nations (including the General Assembly Room), which is an international territory. I think the setting adds a certain level of authenticity to the story, along with the professional performances.
It might be unnecessary to state how good Penn's and Kidman's performances were, but I can't help saying they were damn good, really! In addition, the story was presented on the silver screen in an intelligent and engrossing way. (However, there were still stupid things, too, which you'll read about in a minute.) Throughout the film, there is this huge rush that keeps you awake and excited. (At least I felt that way, either because of the sequence of events or the performances.)
Each time the lead characters talk about something, you feel that they're playing with words, for instance during the scene where Tobin and Silvia meet at the UN. During most scenes, they get each other into verbal difficulties, because the dialogues are like riddles made up of clever words. In addition, the contradiction between the characters' outlooks on life is worth noting. Tobin, as a secret service agent, believes in understanding people via their behavior no matter what they say, whereas Silvia believes in the power of words.
In addition, Penn portrays Tobin as an agent who, instead of sticking with an obvious conjecture, keeps several possibilities in mind when he analyzes events. So, even though you may guess that something's going to happen, you'll have difficulty predicting exactly what. (The devil's in the details.)
Let's have a glance at the weak aspects of the movie as well. One of the biggest gaps in logic concerns the fact that what Silvia overhears on her headphone is a conservation between two men in the General Assembly Room (GAR), where there are lots of microphones. Considering what these men are whispering, there's no sense in shooting this scene in the GAR. Another point is that both characters share a loss in their lives. This is so cliché. Not surprisingly, they're drawn to each other based on this shared sense of loss and mutual sympathy. Thank God they were too busy for sex and the romance wasn't overdone. There are other little details that detract from the film in minor ways, but there's no need to make a mountain out of a molehill.
Don't miss "The Interpreter" if you have a crush on Kidman or Penn, because they really shine in this film. Have fun and be cool at SPRING FESTIVAL as if it were the last one, if you know what I mean....

Rating (3.5 out of 5)

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