The International (***)

Directed by: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Clive Owen, Naomi Watts, Armin Meuller-Stahl, Brian F. O’Byrne, Ulrich Thompson
Seen: April 28th 2009

*** Out of ****

The International concerns itself with Interpol agent Louis Salinger’s (Owen) attempts to expose the IBBC’s (International Bank of Business and Credit) illegal arms trading activities, among others, around the world. This is Clive Owen’s chance to shine in a quasi-Bond role, and he does a great job of carrying the film, in fact, he overshadows everyone else in the film, with the exception of a few short scenes with Naomi Watts. The rest of the cast are mostly supporting, as not even Naomi Watts is fully utilized to potential as Eleanor Whitman, the Assistant District Attorney for Manhattan.

The film starts of with a smart level of suspense and guessing, leaving the viewer wondering just about as much as the two leads as to where to go next, who to blame/follow now. As Salinger’s partner is murdered in Berlin, shortly after meeting with an informant from the IBBC (who is also murdered without wasting too much time), Salinger gets the smallest lead in his investigation – it seems that the IBBC uses only one assassin, The Consultant (O’Byrne). He is very good though, and for about 35 minutes the movie follows the hunt for this Consultant so closely that it forgets about the bigger picture and simply focuses on how Salinger and Whitman follow the clues through such strange places as orthopaedic hospitals, an elaborate (and maybe redundant?) double-cross assassination setup, and finally an airport.

As the web closes on the Consultant the films big action set-piece astonishes the viewer as the Guggenheim Museum in New York is literally shot to pieces. Some have complained that this scene is too long, but I found it to have just the right balance, opting to show the entire shootout almost in real-time, with certain short shots of a very brutal nature.

The IBBC’s executives keep tabs on everything, and decide to dig themselves even deeper into the trouble the already get themselves in. The film’s big flaw in my mind is this: while the bank is killing anyone to keep their arms-dealing under wraps, the arms company does not hesitate for a second in sharing information regarding the bank’s illegal arms deals. This does however act almost as a Deus Ex-Machina, without which the film might not have had its easy/sensible conclusion at all.

Salinger eventually tracks down IBBC Chairman Jonas Skarssen (Thompson) in yet another of the films beautifully chosen locations, Istanbul, as he closes yet another arms deal. This then brings me to the one small moral dilemma the film does not solve, but merely bypasses. Salinger learns from a whistleblower that sometimes a man can meet his destiny on the road he took to avoid it, which in itself is great, and absolves the said whistleblower, but is it worth it or even sensible to avoid/destroy your own true destiny for instant personal gratification?