Thanks for checking out our Review for The Tourist

Genre: Drama Thriller
Directed by: Florina Henckel von Donnersmarck
Staring: Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie and Paul Bettany
Released: December 10th, 2010

THE GENERAL IDEA

Johnny Depp stars as an American tourist whose playful dalliance with a stranger leads to a web of intrigue, romance and danger in The Tourist. During an impromptu trip to Europe to mend a broken heart, Frank (Depp) unexpectedly finds himself in a flirtatious encounter with Elise (Angelina Jolie), an extraordinary woman who deliberately crosses his path. Against the breathtaking backdrop of Paris and Venice, their whirlwind romance quickly evolves as they find themselves unwittingly thrust into a deadly game of cat and mouse.

THE GOOD

Angelina Jolie is just staggeringly beautiful in this movie. I say this with the standard set that I have yet to see Jolie be unattractive in anything, but this one is outstanding even for her. Her presence and grace in this film are absolutely captivating. Honestly, you could cut out every other minute of the film that she is not on screen and not care that the plot doesn’t make sense.

Johnny Depp plays the everyday man perfectly in this. I was waiting for him to be his suave confident quirky Depp, but instead he acts and does everything exactly like a normal person would. He is being seduced by a woman that looks like Jolie does, so he goes with it. When things hit the fan he doesn’t turn into a superhero. I love this vulnerability.

THE BAD

Paul Bettany was sadly under appreciated for his role. He is so minor, and I really feel that he could have easily had a bigger presence. More a shame than a flaw. He does his role well, but the role isn’t used as much to hieghten the plot.

Speaking of the plot, this plays out safely while it could have just nailed the movie. There is nothing outwardly wrong with the plot, as it plays out as the trailer suggests at an expected pace. But there is no twist, there is no wow moment that really draws you into the intrigue and mystery. Its just too textbook to really win me over.

Jolie might have been too busy being undeniably seductive to have noticed that she just forgot to give depth to her character. She is clearly in this for her own motives, but I just don’t see any evidence of her desire to achieve them - yet she still does it for those reasons. Hard to really spill out without spoiling the plot a bit.

OVERALL

The setting is seductive and exotic, and Jolie is pouring on the smouldering temptress routine in spades. I just wanted to feel some genuine passion in this, and with two hot actors like Depp and Jolie this should have been knocked out of the park. Perhaps my expectations were just too high, and that was the let down.

The movie did deliver its story well. It didn’t suck. But I just wasn’t blown away like these two have the potential to do.

On a side note, the director’s name is one that sounds like it could intimidate a Bond villain (and a former Bond is in this film). I love it.

I give The Tourist a 6 out of 10