Plot: What’s it about?
Actor/Director Sydney Pollack has helmed some truly great movies. Dating all the way back to classics like “The Way We Were”, “Three Days of the Condor”, “Tootsie” and the Academy Award-Winning “Out of Africa”. While Pollack hasn’t been too active as a director, “The Interpreter” provided an opportunity for him to get back to his roots. Nicole Kidman has really come into her own as an actress as of late and the Oscar-tapped Sean Penn lead a cast that’s got all the right things going for it. Admittedly, this isn’t as gripping as “Three Days of the Condor” but rather it shows how something can go from rumor to fact in a very short amount of time. That aside, something that was really impressive is that this movie was filmed inside the United Nations with several shots taking place in the General Assembly room. I suppose when you have names like Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn and Sydney Pollack attached – certain doors open up. Nevertheless, Pollack’s latest effort shows he’s still got it.
Kidman plays Silvia Broome, an interpreter for the United Nations who speaks a dialect that only a handful of people in the world know. She’s attractive (naturally, she’s Nicole Kidman after all), but single and loves her work. Silvia mistakenly overhears a conversation inside the United Nations building – something she’s not supposed to hear. Not knowing if she’s been found out, paranoia takes over and she’s then supplied with a Secret Service agent (Sean Penn) to protect her. Penn’s Tobin Keller is obviously troubled and the movie could have taken us to a place where they have an affair and a steamy sex scene. As much as I’d like to have seen that, the movie is smarter than that and it focuses more on the story than the stars. That’s good. As the story progresses, Tobin finds more and more reasons not to trust Siliva: is there more to her than meets the eye or is she telling the truth? Naturally I won’t answer that question.
“The Interpreter” is a very good movie, certainly worth a viewing and while I don’t think it’s Kidman’s or Penn’s best work, it’s entertaining. The film feels like a leap back in time to the days when these “taut, political thrillers” were everywhere and the genre is waning, but certainly not forgotten. There is the right amount of action to balance out all of the dialogue that takes place. There’s innocence to Silvia that makes us care for her and want to know more, but we sympathize with Tobin who wants to take action and get his job done. I hasten to use the term “cat and mouse” game, but that’s essentially what this is. And no one does it better than Sydney Pollack.
Video: How does it look?
I remember watching the standard DVD release of this movie when it came out last year and being fairly impressed. Well, a lot has happened in that year and a lot of other titles have impressed me even more. This is the lone Universal title that utlizes MPEG-4 compression and while many might not know what that is, it’s a departure from what Universal has been doing with thier HD DVD’s. the 2.35:1 HD transfer is top notch, though it does tend to be a bit bright at times. I feel, however, that this is the way the movie was shot and not a fault of the transfer. Images are razor sharp, with the detail being pumped up significantly from the standard DVD release. The somewhat stylized palette makes for a very interesting watch and though the difference between this and it’s standard DVD counterpart isn’t night and day – this is a noticeable improvement.
Audio: How does it sound?
“The Interpreter” gets a fairly robust Dolby Digital Plus track for it’s HD DVD debut and, just like the standard DVD, it sounds pretty darn good. I remember commenting on my earlier review that the lack of a DTS track was a bit of a disappointment and wouldn’t you know it – there’s a DTS track on this HD version! I’d have to give the edge to the Dolby Digital Plus here, but not by much as either way you go, you’ll be pleased. Surrounds kick in at the appropriate times and though this isn’t one that will be remembered for the audio – it certainly serves its purpose.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Universal isn’t breaking any new ground with this HD DVD release as all of the supplements that were found on the standard DVD make their way here. First off is an audio commentary by Director Sydney Pollack. Pollack, as always, gives a very insightful commentary and seems to tell us what we want to know. There’s very little downtime and for a solo commentary track, this is full of information about the shoot, location, etc. This is a good track. Next up is alternate ending which isn’t really that different from the real one and some deleted scenes. I’d have preferred if Pollack were to tell us why these were taken out of the movie, but it’s nice to have them included. Four featurettes round out the supplements, the most interesting one being “The Ultimate Movie Set: The United Nations” in which we see the challenge of shooting at the U.N. Evidently there could be a meeting called on three hours notice – not good if you’re trying to shoot a movie! Pollack explains, or pleads rather, the difference between widescreen and pan and scan with several different examples from the movie. He even goes so far as to say the pan and scan version “isn’t my movie”. Ironically enough, this disc is being offered by Universal in a full-frame format in addition to the widescreen version offered here. “A Day in the Life of Real Interpreters” is just that, it’s an abridged version of people who interpret for a living. Nothing hidden there. Lastly, “Sydney Pollack: From concept to cutting room” shows us as Pollack takes the movie and how it’s edited, cropped and finally how it makes the final cut. All in all “The Interpreter” is a good movie, not great, but entertaining enough that I believe it warrants a viewing. And with the DTS track, it’s an added bonus that wasn’t found on the standard DVD offering.
