Movie Review: The International
Atlas, Columbia Pictures Film Stars Clive Owen, Naomi Watts
Feb 13, 2009
Conspiracy theories indulge a basic need in our lives. It's far easier to believe that the British Royals are alien reptiles and that shadowy cabals control everything rather than admit to the basic greed, hubris, venality and plain old stupidity that drives 99% of the evil on this planet.
Of course admitting that to ourselves means also admitting that we have more in common with monsters like Adolf Eichmann, Enron's Kenneth Lay or Pol Pot than is entirely comfortable.
Despite the overwhelming evidence of the Nuremberg Trials, the 1961 Milgram experiments and the 1971 Stanford Prison experiment, conspiracy theories still abound about the institutions in our lives. And it's that comforting illusion that drives The International, a convoluted but tightly constructed thriller from Sony/Columbia.
The International Stars Clive Owen, Naomi Watts, Armin Muller-Stahl
Interpol agent Louis Salinger (Clive Owen) thinks he might have a break in a case he's been working on for many years: an executive at the mysterious and powerful International Bank of Business and Credit claims his employer is laundering money, dealing arms to terrorist organizations and destabilizing governments, and he's willing to talk to Salinger's partner. However, Salinger's partner suddenly suffers a fatal heart attack and the executive dies in a "road accident" not long after. Coincidence?
Salinger doesn't think so, and neither does Manhattan District Attorney Eleanor Whitman (Naomi Watts). They believe the IBBC, in cahoots with countless governments and police forces, is financing terrorist organizations around the world.
"The IBBC wants to control the debt," an Italian politician tells Salinger and Whitman, shortly before he's mysteriously assassinated. "And whoever controls the debt, controls everything."
Naturally (this being a conspiracy movie), our heroes are thwarted at every turn by corrupt policemen and politicians who don't want these investigators disrupting the status quo. Whitman and Salinger also have another enemy: retired Stasi colonel Wilhelm Wexler (Armin Mueller-Stahl) who arranges assassinations and other dirty tricks for the IBBC.
The cast is first rate. Owen believably plays an obsessed cop who is willing to cross all boundaries in order to achieve his objective, while Watts' character finds herself eyeing the abyss and wondering if she should jump as well. The rest of the mostly international cast play off each other well: especially Mueller-Stahl as a ruthless spymaster who wonders where his ideals have gone and Ulrich Thomsen as a banker who won't let anything come between him and monetary power.
Director Tom Tykwer (Run, Lola, Run) has built a tight little thriller, working from the well-constructed script by newbie scriptwriter Eric Warren Singer. The film moves at a leisurely pace, but it's confident in its sure-footed plotting. There are a lot of convolutions, but they don't feel gratuitous and the final twist is a surprise without descending into deus ex machina territory.
If there is a criticism, it's that a well-executed (sorry) shootout at the Guggenheim Museum overshadows the final minutes of the movie. After throwing in such a thrilling set piece, the rest of the film struggles to maintain the momentum, let alone up the ante.
The Final Analysis
After helping cause the current global recession, banks have become a convenient villain for all sorts of sinister conspiracies. They not only help us explain an often confusing world but they also absolve us from taking responsibility for our own choices, as one character challenges to another in a pivotal scene.
Whether you believe the truth is out there – or that the lies are all in your head – The International remains a solid thriller. 8/10.
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