Review – The Interpreter

Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn star in yet another one of those “thrillers” that thrives almost exclusively on its own cleverness. And that’s a skimpy diet here. The premise has potential – evil African leader may be assassinated during UN speech if Secret Service and eavesdropping interpreter can’t foil the plot. Then the interpreter turns out to be more than she seems, and things start to slide downhill from there. This one might actually have kinda worked if not for Penn, who has apparently spent so long playing the mentally-differently-abled that even a straightforward government agent character gets twisted in his hands into a borderline head-case. The plot also turns on a few too many improbables to sustain a really good international political drama. Otherwise this is slick but slightly boring Hollywood fare. Mildly amusing