The Tourist (2010)

A mysterious Englishwoman (Angelina Jolie) befriends an American tourist (Johnny Depp) on a train going from Paris to Venice. She has ulterior motives for befriending him and it isn't long before the tourist finds himself caught up in an international web of intrigue. Directed by Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck, one can see what he's trying for and how it fails. I wasn't a fan of Von Donnersmarck's Oscar winning THE LIVES OF OTHERS (best foreign film) and while this is marginally more enjoyable, he doesn't have the style to do a Hitchcock type thriller. The biggest problem is that Jolie and Depp have zero chemistry! When you're casting two big stars in a glamorous international thriller, if the chemistry isn't there, you're stumped. Jolie comes off better than Depp because she realizes she's playing a "type", she's playing Grace Kelly or Audrey Hepburn and she carries herself appropriately. Depp is all wrong for a movie like this. He's just not a romantic leading man and he plays the role too seriously without any elegance or wit. I kept on thinking how much better George Clooney would have been in the role. The film is supposed to have a surprise twist at the end but I figured it out in the film's first 15 minutes and if I could, you probably will too. Kudoes to John Seale's (THE ENGLISH PATIENT) elegant lensing of the Venice location. With Timothy Dalton, Paul Bettany, Rufus Sewell and Steven Berkoff.