Star cast: Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, Paul Bettany,
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Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck.
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What’s Good: Johnny Depp’s acting; Angelina Jolie’s pouted lips. Nothing else!
What’s Bad: The clichéd story; the confused plot; and the absence of any chemistry between Johnny and Angelina.
Verdict: The Tourist’s path will be full of obstacles.
Watch or Not?: Watch it only if you have nothing better to do this weekend.
Loo Break: Anytime!
GK Films, Spyglass Entertainment and Studio Canal’s The Tourist is the story of an American tourist who gets embroiled in a high-profile robbery case after he falls in love with the thief’s girlfriend.
Frank Tupelo (Johnny Depp) is a mathematics teacher from the USA, holidaying in Europe. On a train ride from Paris to Venice, Frank meets a beautiful but mysterious lady, Elise Clifton-Ward (Angelina Jolie). Frank is immediately taken in by Elise’s charm and grace. On arrival in Venice, he accompanies her to her high-end hotel suite. Soon, he discovers that Elise is the girlfriend of a mysterious thief who stole billions from a Venetian gangster. An international investigation has been mounted to look for the thief, whom Elise has not met over the last two years. Inspector John Acheson (Paul Bettany) of the Scotland Yard and the Italian Interpol are following Elise to obtain some clues about her mysterious boyfriend, who, they believe, might have undergone plastic surgery. Not only this, Venetian gangsters are also trailing her for the prize catch.
In their night at the hotel suite, Elise, who had deliberately picked Frank from the train because he is of the same height and build as her boyfriend, kisses Frank in full public view. Now, both, the cops and the gangsters, who are sure that Frank is indeed the mysterious thief, go all out after him. Next morning, Elise leaves the hotel and Frank is confronted by two gangsters. As Frank is being chased by the gangsters, the local Italian police arrest him. A corrupt police officer trades him to the gangsters but Elise comes to his rescue. Frank is a distraught man. He wants to know why everyone is hell-bent on killing him, a simple tourist. Who is Elise? Is the mysterious thief finally captured? The rest of the film answers these questions.
What makes The Tourist unpalatable is the clichéd script. It is a story you have read and seen on screen many times before – a mysterious thief steals billions from a gangster, and his girlfriend helps him out by preying upon an innocent stranger… and so on and so forth. The script, based on the French film, Anthony Zimmer, is nothing to write home about. There is a twist in the climax, but even that is predictable. The film’s screenplay – by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, Christopher McQuarrie and Julian Fellowes – is even worse. It plays out the rather simple story in a round-and-about way, purportedly to create mystery, but fails miserably to excite the viewer. Except for the lead roles, the rest of the characters are just stereotypes. Even the lead roles are confusing. Elise is supposed to be deeply in love with the thief, but overnight, she falls in love with Frank. Moreover, the romantic angle seems all too convenient because the chemistry between Frank and Elise is just not there.
One wonders if The Tourist was meant to be a spoof of some sorts because it tries to be many things at the same time — a whodunit, romance, thriller and a comedy! The last few reels of the film will elicit laughter from the audience, and not because of the funny dialogues or situations, but because of the absurdity of what’s happening on screen.
The film’s saving grace is Johnny Depp’s earnest performance as the naïve and foolhardy maths teacher. Angelina Jolie looks ravishing (as one dialogue in the film goes) in all her 12 different dresses, but has little to do beyond pouting at the camera all the time. Paul Bettany is good but his character ends up being a caricature of an upright police officer. Timothy Dalton, as Chief Inspector Jones, Steven Berkoff as the gangster-boss, and Rufus Sewell, as The Englishman, are thoroughly wasted in inconsequential roles. Christian De Sica, as Colonnello Lombardi, is funny.
Director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck disappoints. One would expect much more after his 2007 Oscar-winning film, The Lives Of Others. But with The Tourist, Donnersmarck completely loses the plot. If only he had paid more attention to the screenplay than shooting in the exotic locales of Paris and Venice, the film would have been much better. James Newton Howard’s background score reminds one of the films of the ’80s. Unfortunately, it just adds to the feeling that all that is happening on screen is fake. The camerawork by John Seale is good. Editing by Joe Hutshing and Patricia Rommel is okay.
On the whole, The Tourist fails to entertain. It leaves the audience wondering about what’s going on. Johnny Depp, in spite of his honest act, can’t save the film. Expect the film to do badly at the Indian box-office, in both, the English and Hindi (The Tourist – Ek Haseen Jaal) versions.
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