Silvia Broome works in the UN as a translator for the delegates, specifically a handful of lesser-known African dialects. Realising she has forgotten some stuff in her booth, Silvia returns late at night to collect it, only to overhear two men talking in one of these languages about a plot to assassinate an African leader when he comes to speak to the UN. The African leader is suspected of genocide in the country that Silvia originates from but the Americans do not want such a man killed on their turf. The Secret Service put Tobin Keller and Dot Woods on the case, but Tobin doesn't take the matter too seriously until someone starts threatening Silvia directly. This begins an operation to prepare for the visit, investigate leads and protect Silvia however, the more Tobin looks, the less he likes about Silvia's past.
So Sidney Pollack has achieved what Hitchcock failed to do; by which I mean Pollack has produced a potentially slick thriller that takes itself far too seriously and is a lesser film as a result how jealous the estate of Hitchcock must be! Kudos to the film for using the real UN building to good effect but that is not enough to justify this basic Hollywood thriller attempting to dress itself up grownup clothes and parade around all serious like. The basic plot is interesting and throws up several moments that are exciting and enjoyable but it bogs itself down in assuming a political depth that it never achieves. Using African genocide is OK as a plot device but either do it with a heart (Hotel Rwanda) or keep it in the background (Bourne Identity); to use it as a thriller plot while also trying to make it emotionally impacting was a mistake and one took away from another. The delivery of the film is all a bit too worthy, lots of talky scenes and sweeping shots and so on problem is it just doesn't have the material to carry such a mood.
The cast get drawn into this a bit too much. Kidman plays it all a bit wide-eyed and scared, confusingly spending most of the time talking in rushed whispers in an accent that is, well, consistent if nothing else. Penn is basically playing a normal action role but he tries to do more than that he ends up looking uncomfortable and, ironically, it is only in the engaging thrilling sections that he convinces. Keener gives a good natural performance; so why she had so little screen time was a mystery to me. The support cast is OK but I must admit that it was very distracting in some regards. First of all, I was a bit surprised by the presence of George Harris a big bold man who I had last seen in the BBC TV flop 55 Degrees North. However, this was less distracting than the presence of that group that tends to move in packs actors from the HBO series Oz; rarely do you see one but you see three (Law & Order: SVU anyone?). So for a while I was playing "spot the Oz actor" and got to three small roles before I accepted that I would get no more. I'm not saying anyone was actually that good but they weren't that bad either.
Overall this is a Hollywood political thriller the likes of which are always put out to appeal to the "intelligent" action crowd. However this tries to take on a worthy mantle that it doesn't deserve and it ends up being an uncomfortable mix of good tense scenes and rather preachy and unnecessary talky scenes. Sadly this combination is poor and the latter sucks the life out of the former without really adding any value of its own. For all the class, this is nothing more than an average political thriller with ideas above its station.
So Sidney Pollack has achieved what Hitchcock failed to do; by which I mean Pollack has produced a potentially slick thriller that takes itself far too seriously and is a lesser film as a result how jealous the estate of Hitchcock must be! Kudos to the film for using the real UN building to good effect but that is not enough to justify this basic Hollywood thriller attempting to dress itself up grownup clothes and parade around all serious like. The basic plot is interesting and throws up several moments that are exciting and enjoyable but it bogs itself down in assuming a political depth that it never achieves. Using African genocide is OK as a plot device but either do it with a heart (Hotel Rwanda) or keep it in the background (Bourne Identity); to use it as a thriller plot while also trying to make it emotionally impacting was a mistake and one took away from another. The delivery of the film is all a bit too worthy, lots of talky scenes and sweeping shots and so on problem is it just doesn't have the material to carry such a mood.
The cast get drawn into this a bit too much. Kidman plays it all a bit wide-eyed and scared, confusingly spending most of the time talking in rushed whispers in an accent that is, well, consistent if nothing else. Penn is basically playing a normal action role but he tries to do more than that he ends up looking uncomfortable and, ironically, it is only in the engaging thrilling sections that he convinces. Keener gives a good natural performance; so why she had so little screen time was a mystery to me. The support cast is OK but I must admit that it was very distracting in some regards. First of all, I was a bit surprised by the presence of George Harris a big bold man who I had last seen in the BBC TV flop 55 Degrees North. However, this was less distracting than the presence of that group that tends to move in packs actors from the HBO series Oz; rarely do you see one but you see three (Law & Order: SVU anyone?). So for a while I was playing "spot the Oz actor" and got to three small roles before I accepted that I would get no more. I'm not saying anyone was actually that good but they weren't that bad either.
Overall this is a Hollywood political thriller the likes of which are always put out to appeal to the "intelligent" action crowd. However this tries to take on a worthy mantle that it doesn't deserve and it ends up being an uncomfortable mix of good tense scenes and rather preachy and unnecessary talky scenes. Sadly this combination is poor and the latter sucks the life out of the former without really adding any value of its own. For all the class, this is nothing more than an average political thriller with ideas above its station.