The International - 3 smiles

“The International,” starring Clive Owen and Naomi Watts, is an action thriller that requires its audiences to think. With a story about a huge international bank as the villain, director Tom Tykwer explores more than good guy versus bad guy. He delves into shades of gray, presenting a world in which a financial institution, with tentacles into everything from geopolitics to gunrunning, is so powerful that, on one hand, they hold our money (and our trust) and on the other hand, they manipulate events to insure the bottom line. What happens when an idealist, a man with a clear vision of right and wrong, targets this bank? Louis Salinger (Owen), an Interpol agent, has uncovered one of the bank’s executives who might be willing to reveal valuable information concerning the bank’s illegal activities. When Louis’s partner dies mysteriously, and the potential witness dies soon after in a car accident, he teams up with Eleanor Whitman (Watts), a Manhattan Assistant District Attorney who’s just as eager to bring down the bank. Their complex investigation takes them to Milan, Berlin, New York City and later to Istanbul and they learn how difficult and dangerous it is to go against such a formidable organization.

In the world of “The International,” life, ethics, and morality are irrelevant. The bank owns everything and people are interchangeable, a pretty pessimistic view for an action movie. Owen, effective as always, plays Louis as a driven, humorless man, whose sense of justice compels him to pursue those he views as evil-doers. Armin Mueller-Stahl, who plays Wilhelm Wexler, an advisor to the bank’s CEO and a disillusioned idealist himself, ably matches him. However, Naomi Watts is wasted in her role as Louis’ partner. In addition, Tykwer has choreographed an exceptional sequence in this movie, a shoot-out in New York’s Guggenheim Museum. It’s detailed and well-executed, illustrating the highs and lows of human behavior under one roof. Packed with adrenaline-pumping action, “The International” is a must-see thriller. 2/`4/09