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?
The 2.35: anamorphic image is about as good as we can expect for a day and date DVD release. Colors are purposely muted at times but the image is surprisingly clear and vidid. This is Pollack’s return to a wider scope and there’s a very good featurette in which he describes the difference between the two and why he chose to use this wider format. That aside, the transfer is great with hardly anything negative to point out.
Audio: How does it sound?
The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is good and it will give your speakers a workout, but the absence of a DTS track (which are included in a number of Universal’s titles) is a bit disheartening. Dialogue seemed clear and natural and though there aren’t quite as many explosions as one might expect, what few there were did sound good. Surrounds kick in at the appropriate times and add some much needed depth to the track. Again, a bit disappointing on the lack of DTS, but viewers should be happy with what’s offered here.
Supplements: What are the extras?
The disc has a fair amount of supplements, sure to delight fans of the movie. 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.
