Sunday, March 27, 2011

THE TOURIST: CAUGHT IN A BAD ROMANCE

Frank Taylor: You're ravenous. Elise: Do you mean 'ravishing'? Frank Taylor: I do.

For romantic movie where both lead actors have absolutely no chemistry together, this film surprisingly did have some entertaining moments to it. Angelina Jolie is Elise, a sophisticated worldly woman who begins our movie at the target under the police's is watchful eye. She is being given instructions to meet her lover who just happens to have stolen a large amount of money before disappearing into thin air. It has been some time, and he has had reconstructive surgery so she isn't sure what he looks like now, but follows his directions blindly. While doing so, she befriends Frank (Johnny Depp looking much like Eddie Vedder) an unsuspecting tourist. Because the police don't know what her lover looks like, she uses the tourist as a smokescreen. The question is, or does he use her? From the beginning, I had extreme doubts as to the pairing of Jolie and Depp for this project. And, I was right, they have absolutely no chemistry with each other whatsoever. However, each in their own right give palatable performances. Depp has a sense of humor, however mild, while Jolie plays the femme fatale pretty much per the usual. The scenery is lovely, her costumes are beautiful, but the awkwardness between the two stands out like a sore thumb. The worst scene, perhaps, toward the end of the movie tries to have them dance with each other which is almost more painful to watch then them just interacting with each other. It is reminiscent of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, except it falls flat if not just looks plain old stupid. The ending I liked and although this wasn't the best work for either actor it was an entertaining movie. Or, it was something I could watch without being sick to my stomach. Not a glowing endorsement, but not to most terrible film I've seen.