The Interpreter (2005)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Sydney Pollack

Writers (WGA):

Martin Stellman (story) &
Brian Ward (story) ...

Release Date:

22 April 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

The truth needs no translation.

Plot:

Political intrigue and deception unfold inside the United Nations, where a US Secret Service agent is assigned to investigate an interpreter who overhears an assassination plot.

Plot Keywords:

Interpreter | Political | United Nations | Secret Service | Suicide

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Nicole Kidman	...	Silvia Broome
Sean Penn	...	Tobin Keller
Catherine Keener	...	Dot Woods
Jesper Christensen	...	Nils Lud
Yvan Attal	...	Philippe
Earl Cameron	...	Zuwanie
George Harris	...	Kuman-Kuman
Michael Wright	...	Marcus
Clyde Kusatsu	...	Police Chief Lee Wu
Eric Keenleyside	...	Rory Robb
Hugo Speer	...	Simon Broome
Maz Jobrani	...	Mo
Yusuf Gatewood	...	Doug
Curtiss Cook	...	Ajene Xola (as Curtiss I'Cook)
Byron Utley	...	Jean Gamba

Also Known As:

L'interprète (France)
La intérprete (Argentina) (Spain) [es]
Переводчица (Russia) [ru]
Çevirmen (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
A Intérprete (Brazil) [pt]
Die Dolmetscherin (Germany) [de]
I diermineas (Greece) [el]
L'interprète (Canada: French title) [fr]
Prevoditeljica (Croatia) [hr]
Tõlk (Estonia) [et]
Tolken (Norway) [no]
Tolken (Denmark) [da]
Tolken (Sweden) [sv]
Tulkki (Finland) [fi]

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence, some sexual content and brief strong language.

Runtime:

128 min

Country:

UK | USA | France

Language:

Aboriginal | English | French | Portuguese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Taiwan:PG-12 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Zurich) | Iceland:16 | Malaysia:U | USA:PG-13 (certificate #41613) | Denmark:11 | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba) | Canada:PG (Nova Scotia/Ontario) | France:U | UK:12 (DVD rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:14 | Canada:G (Quebec) | Finland:K-15 | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIA | Ireland:12A | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:12 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12A

Filming Locations:

East 9th Street & Stuyvesant Street, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Sylvia uses Earthlink's webmail service. Her account is [e-mail] and she's writing to [e-mail] - 'MTB' of course being a fictional TLD.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: About 15 minutes into the movie, as the helicopter is taking off, Woods gets a call that, she claims, informs her that Ziwani's head of security has arrived. In fact, what she hears on the line is the Israeli national telephone company's recording: "Hamispar sh'higata, lo poel tmani." In English: "The number you have dialed is temporarily unavailable."

Quotes:

[first lines]
Simon Broome: She wouldn't tell me her husband's name. She wouldn't even write it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Vision of a Future Passed: The Prophecy of 2001 (2007) (V)

Soundtrack:

Laughter

Fine performances, weak story

Director Sidney Pollack has given us some very fine films in the past; THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR and TOOTSIE come immediately to mind, and he won an Oscar for OUT OF Africa (although it's not high on my personal list of his films). But not even Mr. Pollack can make a great film without having a script to start with. I think that's the lesson of THE INTERPRETER. There are many things that are just not well thought out here, and the whole suffers as a result.

Penn is great as always, Kidman does a lot with her character, but often they're wandering through the scenes in a story that doesn't seem to know where to go next. Actually the fact the movie makes any sense at all is a credit to Pollack's experience and talent. There are some great ideas here, and there's certainly a level of entertainment achieved; even some thought provoking moments. But it's clear the filmmakers weren't working from a well prepared script. 6 out of 10.