The Tourist (2010)
The Perfect Trip - The Perfect Trap
Last entry we took a dive into the infuriating and supposedly scary Paranormal franchise, so this week I think we could all use a little relief. Well, lucky for you a friend recommend I check something out that promises to be a bit more entertaining, better acted, and all around not as much of an assault on the senses. It’s part romance, part spy thriller style mystery - and it’s got Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp in it! Right about now everyone would like to travel, so why don’t we go and check out The Tourist.
The story starts off looking quite old school spy flick, with people being followed by cops in disguise and secretive letters being passed around. It really ends up being far more a criminal sort of thing, as it turns out the cops are following our lead lady in an effort to get a man in hiding who happened to steal quite a lot of money - and their biggest problem is they don’t know what this man looks like anymore. Seems he went and got himself some work done, and he could be anyone! The leader of this sting operation is convinced the girl is his ticket to the criminal - and it’s not something lost on the criminal, who sets up an elaborate scheme through letters to try and throw off the cops. Twists and turns abound when a hapless tourist gets caught in the cross hairs, and leaks lead to the seedy criminal element the criminal stole from also believing the tourist is in fact him! Sometimes, it really doesn’t pay to travel!
The story provides what it needs to for reason. The flow of things keeps you entertained, swapping between romance moments, to action filled escapes or more thriller-like mystery moments where the characters try to unravel what’s going on - mostly the tourist himself than anyone else. As the audience, the amount of mystery is more contained, as we are given more elements to whats going on then the rest of the actual characters. Actors play well with this, and in turn the intrigue of the spy-like moments help boost interest for those not as romantically inclined to enjoy those moments. Chemistry is there enough to be convincing, and it leads to you being lead in directions you expect and don’t expect because of it. The story also provides for a few different locations, not just limited to interior and exterior, but also two separate regions as well.
The variety can keep your interest up, but the actors is where you’ll spend a lot of your enjoyment. The chemistry is good between characters, and the line deliveries are also well done. When someone is trying to be aloof, they feel like they are trying to keep their distance. When they act a bit emotional, it feels good that they are doing so. It’s not all wicked high grade, but it’s all easily passable as far as entertainment levels. There are segments of the movie - specifically those showing the various law forces - that can feel a bit pink panther or otherwise slapstick. Part of it is probably tied to them being somewhat incompetent, and the other part is it just being shot in that slapstick sort of way where things are overly done.
Smoochies
Sound design is good, with audio being easily heard whenever it wants to be - which is most the time. As mentioned, the line deliveries are pretty good, and if something is supposed to carry with it emotion it does. Of course, there is the various background noises and effect noises, but it all works out nicely for the ears. Most of the music doesn’t stick around with me after the fact, but it helps punch up the scenes it hangs out in, including the fancy ball. Subtitles weren’t needed really, although I did have them on for force of habit, but also didn’t seem to do anything to crazy or off the shelf - and were unobtrusive enough that I didn’t find myself distracted by them at all.
The settings are quite fun to look at. Be it the boat-traveled channels of Venice to the classic overly-fancy hotel interior, you don’t frequently see a scene set somewhere you wish you didn’t need to stare at. Full of colors, and with plenty enough (extra) people and items strewn about them to make it feel like a real lived in place. They utilize a bunch of aspects of the places too - insides, outside, on the roof, they’ve got it all. The people also end up getting their fair share of costumes - although largely don’t expect anything to outlandish. There is some pretty fancy dresses here and there, but outside of the plethora of tuxes, the most bizarre thing you will end up seeing is a common pair of striped pajamas. Effects on the other hand get a little bit more to do - with a few different times of gun usage, and various things getting broken or beat up along the time.
The entire thing is shot pretty darn well too. It doesn’t cut too heavy, it doesn’t get too shakey or move things around way too fast. It keeps it all nice and easy to follow, and gives you plenty of time for your eyes to take things in. Choreography is done pretty well as well - although you won’t really be seeing any crazy kung fu fights or anything of that sort - it’s actually pretty brief with most of it’s skirmishes. They flow together nicely, but they also always find ways to crack a joke in the moment. Sometimes it’s a simple line, such as a call for help being complimented in the callers use of the foreign language. Sometimes it’s because the over done nature of the scene - like a bunch of “hidden” cops walking from behind pillars in unison. It doesn’t stop the movie from trying to make it’s stakes dire, and it does a well enough job with it as well, but know that throughout most the movie it’s a pretty good feel.
No smoochies!
This is a good movie. It’s not too heavy, it’s not too light, but it’s pretty darn entertaining. You’ve got a pair of wonderful actors doing there thing in beautiful surroundings with a story that works quite well, and a flow that doesn’t overly bog down at any real points. I could see a good number of people having a good time watching this, perhaps a decent option for some date night even. It’s put together fine, and overall it’s a good time. Perhaps check it out - at the time of writing this it’s available on streaming such as Netflix.