ALLAN HUNTER at the Movies.

SYDNEY POLLACK is a past master of the intelligent mainstream thriller. The veteran Oscar-winner has been responsible for Three Days Of The Condor, Absence Of Malice and The Firm. Now, he boldly goes where even Alfred Hitchcock was denied access with The Interpreter, an absorbing conspiracy thriller set in the heart of the United Nations building in New York.
  
Pollack is the first director to be allowed to film within the UN and the location adds another layer of authenticity to a reasonably well-grounded, wide-ranging cat and mouse suspense tale.

Nicole Kidman plays African-born UN interpreter Silvia Broome. One evening she returns to retrieve her belongings and overhears a whispered conversation plotting the assassination of Matobo leader Dr Zuwanie (Earl Cameron).

Silvia would shed no tears for the brutal dictator who has destroyed her homeland but she does the right thing and reports the matter to the authorities. Sean Penn is Tobin Keller, the Secret Service agent who doesn’t know whether to protect her or arrest her.
  
The Interpreter is exactly the kind of film that Hitchcock might have made, although Kidman’s canny performance leaves you guessing whether she is quite the innocent that she appears to be. Penn lends his customary authority to a character raw with the grief of his wife’s recent death.
  
They are not a natural screen team but that adds some interesting textures to their relationship in the film. The quality of their performances also helps to paper over any cracks in the plot and ensure that The Interpreter is smarter than your average Hollywood thriller.
  
THE INTERPRETER (12A)
General release, cinemas nationwide
Director: Sydney Pollack
Stars: Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn, Catherine Keener, Satish Joshi, Earl
Cameron
Screenwriter: Charles Randolph, Scott Frank, Steve Zaillian
Certificate: 12A
Running time: 128 mins
Country: US
Year: 2005
 

© Allan Hunter, 2005