From acclaimed director Sydney Pollack (director of Out of Africa, Three Days on the Condor, and The Firm) comes the DVD release of The Interpreter, a tense political thriller set inside the United Nations.

U.N. interpreter Silvia Broom (Nicole Kidman) from the country of Matobo in Africa overhears a conversation in her native tongue about an assassination plot on the dictator of her own country, while retrieving her belongings late at night in her U.N. sound booth.  Fearing for her life, she tells the higher ups what has happened and they assign two Secret Service agents, Agent Tobin Keller (Sean Penn) and Agent Dot Woods (Catherine Keener), to protect her and oversee the case at the U.N..  Not wanting to see a tragedy like a foreign leader gunned down on U.S. soil, the Secret Service is making this a top priority.

Agent Keller is very skeptical at whether Silvia is telling the truth as it is quite a coincidence that she just happened to forget her things that night and just happened to overhear this conversation in a language that only she can interpret.  But despite this distrust, he begins to bond with her as the two find they are similar in many ways.  Both harbor deep pain and secrets in their past that have formed them into the guarded, detached people they have become. 

Silvia grew up in Matobo under the horrid rule of this dictator, seeing her country suffer and her parents killed.  Keller’s trust is further stretched though once he realizes that Silvia has more than enough reasons to want this dictator killed.  And yet Silvia says it’s the whole reason she joined the U.N., to use diplomacy and not violence to attain peace and justice.  As for Keller, he has recently lost his wife and is grieving over her and how she died, throwing himself into work and booze to forget.

It’s not long before the assassination conspiracy starts to take shape and the agents begin to piece together the conspirators, including the very real possibility of Silvia’s involvement.  But Keller’s growing bond with Silvia is clouding his judgment and may lead to a huge mistake; one that could cost more lives than just this one dictator.

CRITIQUE

The Interpreter is an engrossing and intriguing thriller with another magnificent performance from Sean Penn, some riveting sequences, a sense of dramatic urgency and mounting suspense, and an interesting storyline and backdrop (the real United Nations).  The film does have some deep flaws though, which make it an above average thriller instead of the masterwork it could have been.

Sydney Pollack directs the film as an old fashioned procedural, fully immersing the viewer in the details of this unfolding mystery and into the lives of its protagonists.  It’s an interesting story that molds into a well-built mystery and it is in the details where the film spends it’s time.  You truly get a sense of the world these characters inhabit.  The fact that they were given permission to shoot inside the actual U.N. (the only film to ever have that access) also helps in entrenching the viewer in this atmosphere.  Pollack is a master at slowly building tension and dramatic urgency, and he is in full swing here.  But he also pulls out some new tricks and films some absolutely riveting sequences with the best being a sequence involving a bomb on a bus.  He cuts back and forth between many different characters uncovering bits of information and making moves culminating in all of them being in the same place at the same time.  It’s a mesmerizing sequence that builds the tension up into a frenzy that culminates in a shocking moment. 

Sean Penn continues his string of amazing performances here as the pained and rational Agent Keller.  He’s able to convey so much without almost any dialogue, one scene where he’s listening to Silvia you can almost construe the different scenarios he’s mulling over on her possible guilt as he sits there staring at her.  He is fully believable, intensely introverted and interesting in this role, as he is in almost all his roles.  He always brings something unique and original to a character and he has become one of the best actors of all time (and that is not an overstatement). 

Nicole Kidman as Silvia was very unimpressive to me (even though her performance was hailed by others); she’s starting to inch into the ‘overrated’ column.  Her character is supposed to be detached and emotionally scarred and yet she plays it cold and distant with no emotional undercurrent, no warmth, and no interesting character traits.  It just felt like she spent her time learning this made up language (called Ku in the film) her character can speak and working on the African accent, but when it came time to bring dramatic depth, it wasn’t there.  It’s a technically flawless performance but with no emotional resonance, originality or depth.  I felt the same way about her Bewitched performance as well (technically flawless but missing something underneath).  

The supporting cast is terrific.  Catherine Keener is the big standout delivering an energetic and dry-witted performance that perfectly counteracts Penn’s character’s dourness and Kidman’s lack of emotional resonance.  Keener is also delivering a string of great performances lately.  Penn and her work marvelously besides each other.  The other standout is Pollack himself, who acts in the film as well and is excellent as the Secret Service head. 

The one major problem with the film is that it is way too long (at 2 hrs and 15 min).  There is basically 90 minutes of a truly suspenseful, kinetic thriller and 30 minutes of preachy, convoluted political drivel.  There are just far too many drawn out speeches involving Kidman’s character and too many scenes that could have been cut.  But those 90 minutes of great material is truly spectacular and tension filled.  Pollack actually has a history of running too long in even his best films.  The Firm was at least a half hour too long (it took me less time to read it).  He just needs to partner up with a great editor if you ask me.  The Interpreter is a terrific thriller with some truly brilliant acting and some unforgettable scenes that is just padded with too much political speechifying and some unnecessary scenes that could have been cut for a much tighter film (which would have probably brought some Oscar heat as well).

THE VIDEO

The transfer is presented in 1:85.1 anamorphic widescreen and it is remarkably clear and vibrant.  The film truly looks beautiful, one of the best transfers on a recent first release that I’ve seen.  Even the scenes at night are crisp and clear.  I noticed absolutely no visual clarity issues and the colors were extremely rich and vibrant.

THE AUDIO

The Interpreter is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and the presentation is outstanding.  The surround is surprisingly strong and active (the action scenes just jump out at you), the dialogue is crystal clear and the balances were perfect.

THE EXTRAS

There are a bunch of extras for this DVD, which was a welcome surprise.

Audio Commentary with Director Sydney Pollack – Pollack’s commentary is fascinating and consistently engaging.  He talks about all the various pieces of getting this film made from start to finish, elaborating on what it was like shooting in the real U.N., in Africa, New York, and what an amazing experience it was working with Penn and Kidman.  Pollack, who is a pretty good actor himself, has a natural speaking voice and knows how to keep your attention.  This is an excellent commentary full of interesting stories and gives you a nice feel for how Pollack works. 

Alternate Ending – This is not a radical new ending or anything, it has Silvia interpreting for that same dictator at the General Assembly in the U.N. as he reads off the names of the dead.  I prefer the ending in the original cut.

Deleted Scenes – These are three deleted scenes from the film that unfortunately do not have an introduction from Pollack to explain why they were cut.  Although, at over two hours in running time (and being just way too long in general), I’m sure these were cut to shave some time off (there should have been at least another ten deleted scenes and a running time on the film of 90 minutes).  There is one interesting scene between Silvia and Dot driving in a car discussing Agent Keller and Dot’s potential feelings there.

Sydney Pollack at Work: From Concept to Cutting Room – This featurette is fairly self-explanatory, as Pollack discusses how he managed to get the film made and all the challenges he faced along the way.  But he also discusses how he got into acting and directing (he started out in acting), what techniques he follows in filmmaking, and what a commitment it takes to get a film made.  I loved this extra, as it gives you some real insight into the director and the filmmaking process, but it was just too short.

Interpreting Pan & Scan vs. Widescreen – This was a very interesting featurette where Pollack discusses the how this is the first film he’s filmed in the widescreen format since before Out of Africa (almost 20 years).  Pollack started out filming all of his films in widescreen but was then forced by television studios (who were buying films for ridiculous amounts of money) to shoot in Pan & Scan.  Pollack prefers widescreen as it lets him tell the story faster by getting much more out of each shot (almost 50% more).  He physically shows you the difference by showing frames of the film in both formats and how much of the shot you loose when it’s not in widescreen.  This is a terrific extra.

A Day in the Life of Real Interpreters – This interesting featurette interviews two actual U.N. interpreters about what it’s like to be an interpreter and work in the U.N..  Pollack and Kidman are also interviewed about what they’ve observed about the job and what they do.  Pollack even used a personal hobby that one of them has for Kidman’s character.

The Ultimate Movie Set: The United Nations – This interesting featurette takes you behind the scenes at the United Nations and Pollack and crew discuss the honor of shooting there and the challenges it brought.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The Interpreter is an engrossing, thoughtful and suspenseful thriller with a terrific lead performance from Sean Penn, intensely mounting suspense, some jaw dropping sequences, an interesting mystery (that slowly unfolds), and a great sense of place and atmosphere (credit director Sydney Pollack).  But the film gets bogged down by being far too long (includes too many scenes of political speechifying) and having a lead female performance that is dead on technically speaking, but with no heart or genuine emotion running through it.  It is an above average thriller (that could have been in a class of its own) for grown ups that is a definite rent and a good buy for fans of intelligent thrillers.  The DVD presentation is exceptional boasting a truly spectacular transfer, terrific audio, and a bunch of great extras.