Rated R for some sequences of violence and language.
Directed by Tom Tykwer
Starring Clive Owen and Naomi Watts
The International is forgettable at best.
In The International, Interpol Agent Louis Salinger (Owen) and Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Eleanor Whitman (Watts) 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 – not even murder – to continue financing terror and war.
OK, so we have all read the headlines about the greedy bankers and CEO’s so it’s not difficult to imagine them as the villains…but murderers and arms dealers? That’s a big jump…too big of a jump for me.
The other jumps are the ones The International makes back and forth between the real world and that shoot-em-up Hollywood world. But I will say this: the shootout scene that takes place in Guggenheim Museum is one of the coolest ones I have seen in a long time. Unfortunately that is the best part of the entire movie and honestly, it felt completely out of place.
As far as the story goes, besides being a bit cumbersome and not exactly easy to follow, the end was the most frustrating part. Owen and Watts are the good guys. They are both solid and likeable, but not enough to redeem the movie for me. There are bad guys, but it’s more like a group or a board room of faceless bad guys – give me a psycho with a scar and a cat any day.
The International was a disappointment from beginning to end (OK, except for that shootout scene), so I say “Skip It.”
SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
I’m pretty sure most kids won’t want to see it, and that’s OK. The few scenes of violence are brutal and graphic and the language is typical for an R-rated film, so I say no.
Side Note:
As said above, we don’t recommend your kids see this film. But on the occasion that they actually have already seen it, you may want to dialogue about the film with them. These questions below may be a help to you.
Conversation Starter
Three Simple Questions (with Answers You May Be Looking for):
- What are some of the messages or themes you observed in this movie?
- How do you suppose we—as serious Christ-followers—should react to this movie?
- How can we move from healthy, Bible-based opinions about this movie to actually living out those opinions?
