The Interpreter is lost in translation

The Interpreter

Director: Sydney Pollack

Cast: Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn, Sydney Pollack, Catherine Keener, Jesper Christensen

Cert: 15

Just as long as you don't think about it too closely Pollack's political thriller turns out to be a decent enough drama, helped by the performances of Kidman and Penn.

She is a United Nations African interpreter and he is a secret service agent with a tragic path, thrown together when the former overhears what seems to be an assassination plot and the latter, suspecting the lady's motives, perhaps even that she is the one about to off the target, is brought in to solve the mystery.

Where the flaws lie is in the weakness of the characters: if he's such a troubled man why would he be risked in such a serious investigation? And what African languages is she an expert on, given that every square mile of that vast and complex continent produces hundreds of dialects?

OK, so these are small gripes since the film remains a slickly entertaining piece - shot, for the first time for a film, at the United Nations in New York - with a reasonable quota of thrills, spills and twists, but it isn't really strong enough to maintain our full attention.

Star Rating: 3/5