Penn, Kidman translate 'Interpreter' into first-class thriller

By Jack Garner
Gannett News Service

THE INTERPRETER (PG-13) Three-and-a-Half Stars (Good-to-Excellent) Sydney Pollock's "The Interpreter" is a smart, sophisticated and largely successful political thriller, set at the United Nations in New York and focusing on the politically explosive (fictional) African nation of Matobo. Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn co-star. Universal, 128 minutes.

The ever-stunning Nicole Kidman delivers one of her most impressive performances as the African-born Silvia Broome. She is a U.N. translator who inadvertently overhears a conversation about a plot to assassinate Edmund Zuwanie, Matobo's controversial leader, and a man whose dictatorial violence has rivaled the late Idi Amin of Uganda. The leader is scheduled to address the U.N. General Assembly in a few days in a desperate attempt to clean up his reputation.

Coincidentally, Silvia is also from Matobo and has a veiled past as a rebel with family members who've been victims of the brutal dictator. Thus, she's as much a suspect as a witness.

Federal agent Tobin Keller (Sean Penn) is assigned to both investigate her checkered background and protect her. But he is also working under a handicap, suffering emotionally from recent tragedy in his own family.

The more Keller delves into Matobo's politics and troubled history, the more complex things become. At least two factions are likely to have plotted an assassination. One is lead by a man who still lives in Matobo, but whose operatives might be coming to New York. The other is headed by an exiled opponent living in Brooklyn. But, as someone says, anyone who ever had a family member killed in Matobo could be considered a suspect.

The various players in Matobo's national drama can sometimes be confusing, but veteran director Pollock knows how to keep a thriller on the move, even if you're not always sure what's going on. (Pollock's many credentials include "Three Days of the Condor," a prototypical espionage thriller.)

Still, I found time for a least one nitpick: Broome overhears the assassination plot after hours on her interpreter's headset in her box overlooking the General Assembly Hall. Yet, no attempt seems to be made to check who could have been inside the heavily secured U.N. chamber at that time. And why would they be talking on microphones?

"The Interpreter" has so much going for it, though, that I was willing to overlook the glitch. Kidman and Penn are both first-class actors and easily hold our attention for the engrossing character study that exists within the thriller structure. The supporting cast is also excellent, especially the under-appreciated Catherine Keener as Penn's sarcastically witty partner.

The U.N. is itself a key character in the film.

Fortunately, Pollock was able to become the first filmmaker to secure permission to shoot there — and he does so, extensively. The location adds considerable impact to a story that's ultimately about the need to replace guns with dialogue.

Rated PG-13, profanity, violence.