yep..went to see The Tourist yesterday. was kinda hesitant after reading the not so great review about the movie in the star the day before..
..but..i went anyway, and boy, was i surprised ?!! wow..never seen angelina jolie so sexy in all her movies. so classy, so elegant, so so aristocratic looking..well, i suppose the movie was all very much about her, that i agree, but it was part & parcel of her character, and she played the role so effortlessly, so beautifully, and johnny depp was naturally delightful & funny too.....
to that stupid person who wrote that bad review, please lah, if you wanted all those actions and explosions, you were looking at a different genre. this one exudes european charm, silliness and idiosyncrasies..luckily i did not pay too much attention to your review, otherwise i would have missed my sunday evening with her..!! sometimes i wonder where the press get all these people to write reviews..pffft..!!
you see, intelligent reviewers write like the one below...
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User Reviews
Johnny + Angie = some good old fashioned star power, 13 December 2010
Author: ben_horror from Ireland
Sometimes with the vast amount of special effects extravaganzas, monsters movies and super hero vehicles going around, you can't help but get a bit bored with them after a while. They have a numbing effect the brain and they can get very tedious. As viewers we need a break occasionally. That's why it's always nice just to sit back, relax and watch a straightforward story where good actors do what they're trained for: act. Without a CG creature in sight… And that's exactly what we get here: two good actors having a great time with a slight, though still extremely entertaining and watchable story.
Johnny plays a lonely guy called Frank who, while on holiday in Europe, is approached on a train by a mysterious and beautiful woman called Elise (Angie – who else). Little does he know, however, he's actually being used by her as a decoy to shift police attention from her lover - a financial 'whizz-kid' who ripped off a scummy criminal and now owes the British government over 700 million euros in taxable funds. In a case of mistaken identity, the angry criminals assume Frank to be her thieving lover and he ends up being plunged into a whole web of intrigue, pursued by both the cops and the robbers. At the same time, he's trying to battle his own increasing infatuation with the enigmatic Elise, who keeps ditching him at every turn, but who - in the grand tradition of romps such as this - keeps ending up being thrown into dire situations with him, despite her best efforts.
This is a rather sophisticated and old-fashioned movie and its all the better for it. It would be easy to imagine this being made in 60s with Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn starring in the lead roles. As Frank, Johnny Depp - who really does look about ten years younger than his actual age - once again shows us why he's one of the best out there. It's easy to imagine George Clooney – surely the aforementioned Grant's heir - playing this role, but Depp is more effective and brings a more earthy quality, able to play both plain and debonair at the drop of a hat.
Similarly, Angelina Jolie is convincing as the conflicted mystery woman Elise, and puts in a nice understated performance while at the same time never looking better. The chemistry between them flows off the screen. In fact the interplay between them for the first 40 minutes is absolutely brilliant. You know something is good when simply the sight of two people conversing is keeping you entertained.
It's a jet setter of a story, mixing a bit of James Bond with a dozen mistaken identity movies. It's lightly Hitchcockian, but in a good way, though it probably wouldn't have been as effective had it had been set completely in the United States. As with the Bourne movies, the European locales prevent it from being just another run-of-the-mill thriller while adding something romantic and unique to it. The photography is gorgeous and the film itself ends up being a good advert for European tourism as all the locations come off looking magnificent.
The story moves along fast and there's plenty of engaging action sequences, the stand out being one involving boats. The supporting cast is good, though Paul Bettany has a somewhat thankless role that requires him to do little more than be grumpy while at the same time barking down a microphone at every available occasion. But it is good to see Timothy Dalton (the best Bond bar none) in an acting role again. Even if it only ranks as an extended cameo, he dominates the screen whenever he's on. Somewhat appropriately, he's even in the position his boss 'M' was in his own Bond movies - a guy who sits behind a desk handing out the missions and giving all the orders rather than taking them. It's almost like James Bond has been promoted to top dog!
There's also another Bond connection (are all these intentional?) in another supporting player Steven Berkoff, who played a slimy Russian general in 1983's Octopussy. Here he plays a similarly depraved and ruthless criminal who's actually British, but surrounds himself with a pack of Russian heavies. He also has the most sadistic scene in a movie that can't really be classed as being overly violent.
Even if it's not the kind of dark Euro thriller you might be expecting, this is still a very entertaining movie that will keep you hooked all the way. It's got everything: action, suspense, comedy and romance. And even if that's not enough for you, certainly the interplay between Depp and Jolie will be. They're really effective in this and display the kind of chemistry we haven't seen since the heyday of the movies, the most recent example probably being Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner. Based on this, hopefully they'll work together again sometime in the near future.
Yes, it's all very old-fashioned stuff and you will feel like you're caught in a time warp to the 60s. It's also a bit lightweight and fluffy, but you know what? When you have a cast this good, just go with it. I enjoyed very minute of it. And if you give it a chance, you will too.
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