Movie-The International

The International (2009) was billed as a thriller, and it did have some thrilling moments. But it was more "build-up, with vague disappointment" than "thriller" to me.

Now part of this may have been to make a point. The whole concept of the movie is that it is hard to nail an international corporation (in this case a bank) for crimes, in that it is so part of the way business works. There is no specific person to take down, no specific way to stop them. So the vagueness may have been part and parcel of that idea.

But when Clive Owen, playing an Interpol agent, runs after a car with a person who he suspects has just murdered someone, and faces down the car, and it is just empty, it leaves you a little...OK, I'll say it...blue-balled! LOL! And that happened over and over in this film.

The one really amazing scene was the shoot out in the Guggenheim Museum. That was the stuff of a spy thriller. But even at the end of the film, it was a let down. There was no sense of closure or reward. I had to wonder, well then, why did they even make this?

I really like Clive Owen and co-star Naomi Watts. But both seemed out of place, or badly directed in the movie. Owen was too intense by a long shot...glaring at people he was supposed to be following discretely. And Watts just seemed to be going through her lines.

The International had a few good moments, but it was mostly frustrating, as it built up tension, but never gave a pay off for that build up. I had to take a cold shower after watching it.