PLOT: A United Nations translator claims she has overheard a death threat against an African dictator, but the agent sent to protect her isn't sure that the translator is telling the truth.
The Interpreter, we remind you, is the first movie ever filmed inside the United Nations.
That's noteworthy. The film is not. This political thriller begins with a killing in Africa, then moves to New York and the U.N. building.
Nicole Kidman stars as United Nations translator Silvia Broome, a woman who speaks several languages, including a couple of obscure African ones. One night, returning late to her work area, Silvia overhears two men talking about an assassination. They make reference to an African dictator who is coming soon to the U.N. Silvia runs out of the building in fear. Then it turns out that Silvia has African masks and memorabilia in her own house, so the plot thickens. Silvia reports what she overheard at the U.N. to the proper authorities. A federal agent (Sean Penn) is sent out to hear what she has to say, but he's not convinced that she's telling the truth.
Silvia sends mysterious e-mails and sometimes acts in a suspicious fashion. It turns out she grew up in the (fictitious) African country of Matobo, and has just as much reason as anyone else for wanting the dictator of her former country dead. But Silvia believes in peace and diplomacy. She is against violence. She says things like, "vengeance is a lazy form of grief."
When an intruder appears outside her window one night, everyone begins to believe that she's telling the truth. It would look bad on America if the prez of Matobo were assassinated on American soil, so all concerned take the situation more seriously. Then Silvia's brother and a photographer friend and some other Matobo politicians enter the story, and things are getting crowded. By the time bad guys roam Silvia's apartment and the U.N. itself, the story no longer makes much sense.
Actually, it's worse than that. Penn's character and Nicole Kidman's character wax romantic toward one another, at which point The Interpreter is not only plot-heavy but just plain goofy.
Unfortunately, the overwrought duo of Kidman and Penn are made to look even worse by the understated performances of the support cast -- Earl Cameron as the Matobo dictator, for example, or Catherine Keener as Sean Penn's fellow agent.
Keener is so good in her small role that she appears to be in a different movie altogether; you believe her as a world-weary agent. And that masculine agent pant-suit she gets to wear makes her look so impressive and reliable. It made this viewer think about Sandra Bullock and Regina King in their agent suits in the Miss Congeniality sequel. Really.
Not that we were out of the movie or anything.
So maybe The Interpreter will be useful as a recruitment vehicle for female FBI or CIA agents? You never know.
"The Interpreter" opens April 22, 2005 and is rated PG13. Drama, Thriller. Directed by Sydney Pollack. Written by Martin Stellman, Brian Ward. Starring Catherine Keener, Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn.
