The International - Movie Review and Synopsis

In The International, Interpol Agent Louis Salinger and Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Eleanor Whitman are determined to bring to justice one of the world’s most powerful banks. Uncovering illegal activities including money laundering, arms trading, and the destabilization of governments, Salinger and Whitman’s investigation takes them from Berlin to Milan to New York and to Istanbul. Finding themselves in a high-stakes chase across the globe, their relentless tenacity puts their own lives at risk as the bank will stop at nothing – even murder – to continue financing terror and war.

Has it really taken ten years for Hollywood to get the Run, Lola, Run director to make his first American, big-budget action-thriller? Embarrassing. Still, who cares, with Owen and Watts also on board, all is forgiven; plus, whoever thought to re-team Watts with Armin Mueller-Stahl is a casting genius. What we also love the most about this picture sight unseen? The fact that we finally get to see what Clive Owen would have been like as 007. Rumor has it the project was delayed for a bit to tweak it as more of an action film …

Rated R for some sequences of violence and language.

Director: Tom Tykwer
Stars: Clive Owen, Naomi Watts, Armin Mueller-Stahl
Studio: Columbia Pictures
Release Date: 13 February 2009 (USA)