The International (2009)

A rogue Interpol agent (Clive Owen) and a Manhattan district attorney (Naomi Watts in a thankless role) join forces to investigate an international bank which funds terrorism and arms trading among other things. But the deeper they get into the case, the more they realize they are in over their heads. Tom Tykwer (RUN LOLA RUN) directed this disposable thriller. It's actually quite enjoyable as Tykwer plays into our negative feelings and paranoia about the banking industry but it's the kind of movie you won't remember the following week. There's nothing terribly wrong with it but while Tykwer manages to whip up some exciting scenes, it's style over substance. Nothing wrong with that but in this case the style isn't sufficient enough to override the film's routine plot line. The film's highpoint is an exciting, if far fetched, shoot out in the Guggenheim Museum in New York. As expected in a Tykwer (who also wrote the film's score) film, it's handsomely shot (by Frank Griebe, PARIS, JE T'AIME). With Armin Mueller-Stahl, Ulrich Thomsen, Brian F. O'Byrne and James Rebhorn.