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 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 | bank | interpol | district attorney | chase | 

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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 [Japan] Sony Pictures [UK]

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 Corporation,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

The IBBC - International Bank of Business and Credit - is incorrectly identified at the end in one of the news articles as the International Bank of Business and Commerce.

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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

Referenced in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Duplicity/Knowing/I Love You, Man (2009)

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Soundtracks

Wir Setzen Uns Mit Traenen Nieder
from "St. Matthew's Passion" BWV 244
Written by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performed by Hungarian State Symphony Orchestra
Courtesy of Naxos of America

User Reviews

Worth a theater ticket

No spoilers.

I pretty much had zero expectations for this film. I'd seen an ad or two and it looked conventional at best, clumsy at worst. The previews certainly don't do it justice. It starts smart and mean and doesn't let up. Not everyone will enjoy the unrelenting mood, but I found the picture intense and the rest of the audience in the theater seemed to agree. It helps that Clive Owen is believable as the protagonist and is highly watchable. A lesser actor in the role would have made the film much less effective. Armin Mueller-Stahl also adds credibility and depth. Other supporting actors were, for the most part, strong and gritty. There was probably pressure for a female lead, so in Noami Watts's defense, this is probably part of the reason why the character feels so irrelevant.

I'm happy anytime that a slick international thriller has some brains and isn't completely predictable, so I found the picture highly entertaining, if imperfect. It it flawed? Most certainly. But if you walk into the theater without pretensions, you'll probably be as entertained as I was. And I do think a theater visit is warranted, for the photography mentioned by previous reviewers, if not for the Guggenheim scene alone. I think it's dangerous to trump up a scene too much, because it inevitably leads to disappointment. But having no idea about what was coming... suffice to say, I didn't find the directing anything other than thrilling.