The Tourist has some typical plot set-ups, but with beautiful backdrops and some keen collaborations, the film succeeds. Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie don't seem like the typical duo to work together in a film, let alone be the center love story, but they surprisingly work well here. The connection between seems natural and not pushed. Paul Bettany does alright with his material and it was nice to see Timothy Dalton on screen. There isn't a lot of action in this film but when there is, it is suspenseful enough. This film seemed to take it's dramatic direction in a better way than similar films this year like The American. Going in with low expectations with some of the horrid reviews, this film actually ended up being a joyous surprise. **1/2

Was going to see today but most reviews said it was eye candy (both towards the actors and locations) with not much else.

Good to hear it was OK...as now I can use it as my bonus, buy one movie ticket, walk into another movie free.

One of the most blank disappointments in recent memory. Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie sure look good here, but they have absolutely no chemistry together. Both actors are known for playing charismatic, larger-than-life individuals, but they have so little energy that The Tourist is doomed to mediocrity. Depp comes across as the least probable average Joe American on the planet, while Jolie's main role seems to be to walk by looking attractive while people look at her. The filmmakers try to make this an old-fashioned caper at several points, and the Venice setting is indeed beautiful. But the film plods along unemotionally throughout, failing to involve the audience and ultimately making us wish Depp and Jolie were in a better movie than this one. C-

The best word to describe Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's The Tourist is minor. Despite its A-list stars and beneath its gorgeous Venetian locations (epicurean hotel rooms, labyrinthine canals), there's just not much here. One gust of wind and the entire "creative endeavor"/studio-financed vacation would come tumbling down. The film's complicated, yet almost never pulse-raising plot concerns an elegant and mysterious woman (Angelina Jolie) we first see in Paris, a dogged Interpol agent (Paul Bettany) surveilling her, an unsuspecting American tourist (Johnny Depp) she flirts with on a train to Venice, a gangster (Steven Berkoff)--each ingredient one would expect to find in a glamorous, star-driven suspense romp. These ingredients can, when prepared with care, result in movie magic (see: To Catch a Thief, Charade), but The Tourist never registers as more than a minor pleasant diversion, and at times it's downright dull.

This is a film in love with it stars (the end credits are set to Muse's "Starlight"), and both are talented individuals, but superb casts can fail to ignite. Alas, The Tourist falls well short of Ocean's Eleven-style zest, let alone Grant and/or Hepburn in their prime. The stars almost seem a bit bored. Their characters are ciphers, in her case perhaps a mannequin, not flesh-and-blood beings. Jolie in particular is adrift. She pouts and poses and wears the fashionable clothes well, but a performance never emerges. I was not expecting her to deliver a Girl, Interrupted/Changeling-caliber turn in this light confection, but she's invested far more in other popcorn films in the past (Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Salt). Depp fares a bit better. As a mild-mannered math teacher from Wisconsin, the great character actor does seem to relish a well-deserved reprieve from the stylized madcaps he so often plays. He is unable, however, to form a poignant screen connection with Jolie; there is intended to be a red-hot passion between these characters, the jet-setting superwoman and the earnest tourist with an innocent brand of charm, but the A-list duo never find it in front of the camera. As for the supporting cast, which includes the once-promising Bettany and the once-Bond Timothy Dalton, not one member of it is given a chance to shine.

The screenplay, co-written by the director, Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects), and Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park), does not live up to the sum of its talented writers, to say the least. There are a handful of spot-on one-liners and character quirks (Depp's character's electric cigarette), but there is also at least one twist and turn too many. Throughout the film, I was hoping the plot and characters would not go in a certain direction, as I felt it would undermine what sense of fun there was; of course, the last twist goes there, full stop. As for Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's direction--let's just say, he doesn't have a natural touch for this type of stylish mainstream entertainment. Sure, he and D.P. John Seale (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone) deliver nice shots of Venice, but the pacing is, almost as a rule, sluggish, and the action sequences (including, of course, a boat chase) are mostly unspectacular.

For those in search of an A-list American star engaging in criminal behavior in various sumptuous European locales, I recommend another 2010 film, The American, even though it's more, shall we say, "art-house" in its design. The Tourist falls well short of its pedigree and expectations.

C

I thought it was entertaining as I was watching it, but it's the kind of movie where the more you think about it afterwards, the worse it gets (even though the twist can be seen from miles away). I still don't really get why a certain character puts everyone through the maze they set up. It'd seem much more simplistic to have another character resign from their job and join them on the run. I have more questions but I don't want to dissect the whole thing and the film certainly doesn't want it's audience to do that.

**½ (C+)

Gunslinger gave a.......... a...... C!!!!!! Wow this must be atrocious.

Yeah, I saw it a few nights ago at a free screening and it was bad. It starts out kind of fun and breezy but it slowly becomes annoying and just plain silly. Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp give career worst performances here. Despite one really fun boat chat sequence, the film fails to deliver. Recommended until it's out to rent.

5/10 (C-)

The Tourist: A Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck Film

Ja mein bruder!!!

A seriously Euro-style thriller - - and I mean Euro-style.

Featuring a totally different story mechanics and directorial rhythm than the Yanks' favored ADDirection (cough, Greengrass, cough), The Tourist feels for all the world like a James Bond movie without the camp, and that's a good thing in this case. The extensive location shooting is lusciously old school. The Tourist might best be described in the immortal words of Frank Booth: "Suave! Goddamn you're one suave fucker!"

And what about that ultracool set of three supporting actors! Rufus Sewell, Paul Bettany, and Timothy Dalton. It's freakin' dream team.

I tell ya... If this was a film by Pedro Almodóvar in Spanish starring Penélope Cruz in the Angelina Jolie role and Javier Bardem in the Johnny Depp one, this would have been the talk of the awards season as a Best Foreign Language Film nominee. Or maybe not, since it is already a remake of the French film Anthony Zimmer which I haven't seen, nor even heard of (starring Braveheart Bond girl Sophie Marceau). Perhaps Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck could fantasize about nothing else but the total glam perfection of a massive wack of euros applied liberally on couture costumes and flattering lighting in his big budget English language remake. Who knows?

...but there is one thing I can say for sure: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck knows how to cast a spell. Just like his The Lives of Others, he cranks up a simmering intensity, letting it occasionally boil over, but always showing a firm hand on the tiller.

I enjoyed The Tourist, it set the mood and sustained it, a most entertaining divertissement!


18 out of 5.

raise your hand if you're surprised this movie totally fucking sucks.

also, raise your hand if you're surprised bradley loved it.

also, raise your hand if you don't lol every time you read the director's name.

as i expected, no hands.

btw, this is maybe the first funny and/or interesting thing you've ever said. yay?

I see that you haven't posted a review. Although my taste in film seems to diverge from that of many KJer's, at least I see a movie before I give my opinion on it in the "Everyone's A Critic" forum.







Errr... I'm a little surprised Bradley loved it - - actually I'd say really liked it (it doesn't rate nearly as highly as several other fine films I've seen in the past month) - - but then I had very low expectations going in...

Why so bitchy Makeshift

His full name: Florian Maria Georg Christian Graf [Graf = Count] Henckel von Donnersmarck.

Gesundheit!

wow that ending was lame

The ending of this was kinda insulting in its sheer laziness.

I liked it. It's a good breezer. The word I'd use is playful. Has a sense of humor to itself, tongue and cheek towards spy and caper films. The end twist and face changing surgery being a part of the plot is all that needs to be said - It was meant to be a playfully silly movie's movie, rather than based in reality.

The Musical/Comedy placing at the Globes actually makes sense. It's a comedy... sort of.

Solid B+

This is much better than Salt btw. Salt is shit. The Tourist is a dancer, Salt has clunky feet

This is so, so, so much worse than Salt.

It's horrible and awful. It's horri-awful.

The Tourist

Well, I liked it. I knew from the very moment I saw Depp that he was Alexander Pearce. It was blatantly obvious because we never got to see Pearce and Depp is a huge international star. Plus, I could just envisage it all leading up to Depp being Pearce and the film-makers thinking they had been all so smart about keeping that concealed. Well, I saw it a mile off. But that's not to say that I didn't enjoy the movie. I thought it was a good film, and it kept me entertained throughout (well, apart from a few mind-wonders here and there).

Depp was trying so hard to not be Jack Sparrow, but I guess that is testament to his low acting ability; he is Sparrow, and he cannot act to make us think otherwise. He tries the short quips in the same Pirate persona as his Sparrow character. It just doesn't work, but he tried. He was obviously a lot more subdued. But he could have made it easier for me to like him if he only shaved off his stupid goatee beard and cut his damn hair. Jolie was fine, but really nothing to shout about. I dislike her walk and her plastic face. She is also far too skinny. But she portrayed her character well. At least she was surprised by Depp being Pearce.

I do love mystery/spy movies like this. The Venice setting is quite possibly the best location they could have found - I adore the city. The style of the film was nice, and it moved at a nice pace. One annoying thing; Bettany was told not to pursue his investigations, yet he continued to do so, then Dalton showed up and told him that it's over (yet again). How many times must he be told? It's kind of weird how he doesn't realise that Depp was Pearce, I mean it was pretty bloody obvious. The best thing they could have done would have been for Pearce not to have been Depp. That would have been a shocker. The closing track by Muse left me feeling totally satisfied with the movie.

B

He needs to know he can trust her, and what better plan to test that trust than one designed to throw off Interpol and Shaw? It's a great plan, and he uses that plan to fulfil a personal relationship with Jolie. She then resigns from her job and repeatedly tells "Frank" that she is in love with Pearce, so then half his mission is accomplished. The other half is coming into effect throughout the movie; his recent face-job is being cleared of future harrassment. It's actually a well thought-out plot. The conviction isn't all there, but it's almost, which is good enough for me.

I agree. I also thought that it was a well thought out plot. The idea that he would test her feelings for him and get Interpol and Shaw off of his trail in that way, really worked for me.

I was also happy that I knew that there was a twist before I saw the movie. It was easy to figure out what it was and I spent the movie paying particular attention to Johnny Depp's performance to see if he offered up any tells/clues, which he did. It was played somewhat ambiguous, with the dialogue, up to the reveal. But, the emotion that Depp showed when his character was talking to Jolie's character about Alexander, worked for what it was supposed to accomplish. That he was either an ex-boyfriend trying to find out if the woman he loved still loved him or a new prospective boyfriend trying to find out if the girl is still in love with her ex. The intentionally ambiguous emotion displayed worked either way.

Grade - B

Totally forgot how chubby Depp's looking in this one.