THE INTERNATIONAL

Thriller

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Ian Burfield: Tom, Louis’ associate
Clive Owen: Interpol Agent Louis Salinger
Naomi Watts: Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Eleanor Whitman
Ulrich Thomsen: Jonas Skarssen, CEO of the International Bank of Business and Commerce
Brian F. O'Byrne: The Consultant, an assassin
Armin Mueller-Stahl: Wilhelm Wexler, an advisor to the I.B.B.C.

REVIEW
Recent revelations of just what big banks have been up to makes the premise of this story much more credible. Typical of thrillers, the writers have gone to some length to make it too convoluted with too many people involved and too much dialogue. Why they do that is beyond me. But I digress.

By dint of being attentive to what transpires the story line becomes clear enough to follow the action. And a lot there is. Too much in fact: the big shootout lasts about 10 minutes with at least 500 rounds. Two minutes and 50 rounds would have been enough.

One thing they got right: the camerawork is top-notch.

CLASSIFICATION
for some sequences of violence and language.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
• Tom is sitting in the backseat of the car and looks out the windshield at three cars parked directly in front: a black one on the left, a grey one on the right and a white one beside it. He then gets out of the car but the white car is no where to be seen. It has disappeared.
• Louis gets a scratch on his right temple area. It changes position and shape from one scene to the next.
• The french newspaper shows the date to be mecredi, le 21 novembre, 2008. That was a Friday not a Wednesday.
• From her New York city office Eleanor dials 011-135 to call Luxembourg; the correct international telephone country code is 352 not 135.