The Tourist
Frank Tupelo (Johnny Depp) heads to beautiful Italy to help mend his broken heart after losing his wife. While on the train from Paris to Venice, he is approached by the mysterious, and gorgeous, Elise Clifton-Ward (Angelina Jolie) and sparks fly This “chance” meeting, though, is going to turn Frank’s life around as he is plunged into a world of danger and intrigue as “The Tourist.”
Laura's Review: C
When Elise Clifton-Ward (Angelina Jolie) is contacted by the lover she has not seen for two years, he assures her he loves her, but advises her to leave Paris on an 8:22 train and pick a man of his height and build to convince the British police that have her under surveillance and the Russian mobsters he stole billions from that the stranger is him. So Elise mesmerizes American math teacher Frank Tupelo (Johnny Depp), then discovers he's much more than just "The Tourist." Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp are both huge movie stars, but they always seemed an odd match to me. "The Tourist" is all about star power and scenery and is a movie than Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, who made the brilliant Foreign Language Oscar winning "The Lives of Others," fails to direct. The story (adapted from the French film "Anthony Zimmer" by von Donnersmark, Christopher "The Usual Suspects" McQuarrie and Julian "Gosford Park" Fellowes) is limp and preposterous at the same time. The action is lethargic. Jolie's performance is smug - she's a walking Vogue ad, aware of all eyes upon her. Only Depp maintains any rooting interest as the Hitchcockian Everyman drawn into extreme circumstances. Pity, too, poor Paul Bettany, the promising actor from "A Beautiful Mind" who can't seem to catch a break lately. He's the laughably inept cop on Elise's, and ultimately her lover Alexander Pearce's, tail. Even his boss (former 007 Timothy Dalton, at least appearing to be having a bit of fun) dismisses him. The cops are always one step behind or being played. Things perk up a bit when the gangsters get involved, but the most action we get is Frank running over Venetian rooftops in his pajamas and a canal 'chase' scene where one motorboat *drags* another. The 'twists' are both implausible and completely predictable. Even the production has problems. Closeups during Frank's initial escape sequence are lit so differently than the long shots they appear set bound. Someone forgot to powder Jolie's nose. James Newton Howard's score has faint echoes of Hitchcock, but is otherwise innocuous. "The Tourist" scores a few chuckles from Depp, who, along with Venice, keeps the film watchable, but it makes a good argument for staying home.
Robin's Review: C+
First-time feature writer-director Noble Lincoln Jones tells a story of two lonely people, getting on in years, whose lives are in a comfortable rut. Ed has stockpiled all manner of supplies – water, batteries, food, weapons and ammunition, a generator and gasoline and other necessary gear – for the coming apocalypse, all hidden in a secret room. Ronnie, since her loss many years ago, has turned to the shopping channels and any other venue to buy all the stuff that has stacked up in her home, unused, ever since. One day, at the local market, Ed notices Ronnie in the checkout line as she pays her bill in cash – a sign of a fellow survivalist. He soon becomes obsessed with the attractive woman and arranges a chance “meeting” in the parking lot. Soon, a friendship develops and they spend more and more time together. But, both have kept their secrets secret from each other, until…. John Lithgow and Blythe Danner are both comfortable in the skins of their characters. Ed runs his life by the book, always ready for anything. Ronnie is his opposite and a good foil for Ed. As they spend time together, they get to know each other and it is exciting and scary at the same time for them both. It is a sweet look at finding love in our twilight.
