by Jessica Del Curto
Daily Lobo
It's been proven that when Nicole Kidman divorced Tom Cruise, she became a better actress.
Her new film, "The Interpreter," shows that in a film that won't take home any Oscars, Kidman still shines.
"The Interpreter," directed by Sydney Pollack, stars Kidman as a South African interpreter for the United Nations. She overhears a late-night conversation in her interpreter booth hinting at the assassination of a much-hated South African leader who will be speaking to the general assembly.
Enter Sean Penn, a CIA agent who doesn't believe Kidman and begins to investigate her past, learning she has more involvement with the tyrannical leader than just translating his words.
The dialogue between Kidman and Penn makes the movie more than just an action-packed thriller. Kidman is an interpreter, meaning she is fascinated with words and linguistics. At one point during an interrogation, she points out to Penn that the simple misinterpretation of the two words 'gone' and 'dead' could cost her job.
As the plot deepens, the movie becomes a bit hard to believe. Too many coincidences and far-out-there ideas lead to confusion, and although Pollack attempts to merge action and foreign policy into one movie, in the end both concepts seem unlikely.
Yet the movie keeps your heart pounding.
There is one scene that takes place on a bus, where all of the movie's antagonists and protagonists find themselves sitting among each other - some realize it, and some don't. Although it's highly unlikely this would occur, the scene is reminiscent of the famous nail-biting action of "Speed," its timing perfectly gripping until the final outcome.
But Kidman held her own, successfully pulling off a South African accent and coming across as a peaceful U.N. interpreter who has made it her duty to solve her country's problems through communication.
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Penn does a realistic job portraying a disheveled but talented CIA agent with his own internal struggle. He's likeable because he is so good at what he does.
Unlike Kidman's character, he relies on people's reactions instead of their words, making their conversations almost debates, and both are equally qualified in their positions.
At one point, a cringe-worthy romance almost takes place between Kidman and Penn, but luckily, Pollack quickly ends it and gets back to the heavily loaded plot. This was the smartest decision he could have made, because the on-screen charisma between the two is nonexistent.
Overall, "The Interpreter" is a great thriller, with a bit of love preaching thrown in the mix to make it multidimensional. Kidman once again hits her mark, proving she is a versatile and reliable actress.
