A Man on a Mission

First of all ladies, the Interpol agent with a checkered past played by Clive Owen (Louis Salinger); is ‘hot’ in this film. His British accent is sexy and his nerdy glasses actually make him look kinda cute. What you’ll really find attractive about his character is his ‘strong sense of justice’– look out as you may fall for him in this film as all he’s missing is a love interest. Naomi Watts stars as (Eleanor Whitman); a lawyer and ally of New York City’s DA office, and she’s married with a family so not much is going on between these two other than work related banter.

“The International,” is a mystery-thriller about a European fictional bank; the I.B.B.C. that arms terrorists and wants to make everyone in the world debt slaves.  It has numerous world-wide settings; Milan, France, Luxemburg, Berlin, Istanbul and New York City. Directed by Germany’s Tom Tykwer, who brought us “Run Lola Run” and “Perfume,” the film has some really great scenes, particularly if you are into architecture as many of the cities monuments and buildings are used as the backdrops.

The film grabs you from the beginning as we're inside a Mercedes sedan outside of Berlin’s Central Station on a rainy afternoon where an American is meeting a shady Luxembourg financier. The hushed conversation concerns why the man's bank, is spending so many millions buying up Chinese-made weapons. Hmm… that’s a good question and before it’s answered the American man leaves the car and has an apparent heart attack. All of this has just been witnessed by Owen who is on the spot trying to revive him. Next we are shown the basement of a hospital as the man’s body is being examined by a doctor. Owen finds a small hole on the back of the man’s neck and goes ballistic and orders a complete autopsy. Shouting loudly, “This man has been murdered!”

It’s off to the races as Interpol Agent Salinger is obsessed with finding the killer. He jet sets around the world following any leads and we become more and more intrigued with the mystery as he unlocks the clues.

One scene at a political rally finds Owen and Watts investigating a shooting as a sniper has killed the main speaker. The scene has all the elements of the popular CSI shows as a footprint leads to the shooter. The shooter is ID’d and it’s off on another jet to New York City. This time it’s a major shoot out scene in the Frank Lloyd Wright designed Guggenheim Museum. Giving art lovers their own heart attacks as the beautiful white spiral museum is riddled with bullets and blood is everywhere. I couldn’t help but think of the director Martin Scorsese in this scene as in a similar contrast, “Gangs of New York” shoot out scene against the backdrop of white snow. Art lovers can relax as an elaborated replica of the Guggenheim was built in Germany at a sound stage.

When Owen does become close to solving the case, he’s faced with the decision to either stop or go outside the system. He’s warned very strongly, ‘When you go outside the system there is always collateral damage.’ Owen makes his choice and says to Watts, “Sometimes it’s hard to know which bridges in life to cross and which ones to burn and I’m one that you burn.”

The film has a great ending with twists and turns. Owen comes face to face with one of the bankers and the film becomes one of redemption. Lots of cliques such as ‘Sometimes we sacrifice our own ideals for the greater good’ and ‘Sometimes a man can meet his destiny on the road to avoiding it.’

Great script, I hope we meet Agent Salinger in the future, just please give him a romantic interest!

Sarah Adamson © 2009