The International (2009)

An Interpol agent attempts to expose a high-profile financial institution's role in an international arms dealing ring.

Director:

Tom Tykwer

Writer:

Eric Warren Singer

Stars:

Clive Owen, Naomi Watts, Armin Mueller-Stahl

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Clive Owen	...	Louis Salinger
Naomi Watts	...	Eleanor Whitman
Armin Mueller-Stahl	...	Wilhelm Wexler
Ulrich Thomsen	...	Jonas Skarssen
Brían F. O'Byrne	...	The Consultant
Michel Voletti	...	Viktor Haas
Patrick Baladi	...	Martin White
Jay Villiers	...	Francis Ehames
Fabrice Scott	...	Nicolai Yeshinski
Haluk Bilginer	...	Ahmet Sunay
Luca Barbareschi	...	Umberto Calvini (as Luca Giorgio Barbareschi)
Alessandro Fabrizi	...	Inspector Alberto Cerutti
Felix Solis	...	Detective Iggy Ornelas
Jack McGee	...	Detective Bernie Ward
Nilaja Sun	...	Detective Gloria Hubbard

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

money laundering | post punk | bank | interpol | district attorney | 

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Taglines:

They control your money. They control your government. They control your life. And everybody pays.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some sequences of violence and language

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Pictures [United States]

Country:

USA Germany UK France

Language:

English Italian French Danish

Release Date:

13 February 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Agente internacional

Filming Locations:

USA

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$10,702,613, 15 February 2009, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$25,450,527, 22 March 2009

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Relativity Media, Atlas Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the Guggenheim, despite supposedly being in New York, you can overhear a German voiceover in one of the videos playing. It mentions something about "molten rocks" and shows that the "Guggenheim" was merely rebuilt in Germany for this particular shot.

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Goofs

During the museum shootout, Salinger fires 9 to 11 shots from the cop's revolver in successive shots.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Thomas Schumer: Listen, I'm from the Bronx, so you need to keep it simple. Why is the bank buying all this missile-guidance stuff from Calvini? - I don't get it.

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Crazy Credits

"The fictional exhibition depicted in the main galleries of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum was not curated by nor an actual exhibition of the museum."

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Connections

Featured in The Autostadt (2009)

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Soundtracks

The International End Title
Written by Matthew Bellamy, Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil
Produced by Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil

User Reviews

Efficient thriller, relevant for our times

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

As others have stated, the current banking scandals have cast a very grim light on bankers and the banking industry in general, and so The International is, if nothing else, a very timely and relevant thriller that plays on modern fears and frustrations. How it didn't do better at the box office with this in mind (maybe it was the recession? Hah, how ironic would that be, a film failed by the corrupt industry it's trying to expose?) is a mystery, but that it manages to be a genuinely intelligent and absorbing thriller anyway is a credit to it.

We have here a polished effort, slick, stylish and glossy and carried out with an accomplished flair that sets it a cut above some. In the lead role as the intrepid Interpol agent on a deadly trail of murder and corruption, Clive Owen continues to improve as an actor and has fine support, including the likes of Naomi Watts and Armin Mueheller Stall, carrying the story along as it gathers pace. The big down point, though, is that at the expense of this intelligence in the script comes a decidedly dull feeling to the film in parts, with maybe too much talking and too little action, which is counter productive to the riveting attention it's trying to demand. But this does improve towards the end and while there are some flaws, there are certainly more plusses. ***