Angelina Jolie stars as Elise Clifton-Ward, a mysterious woman the British secret service is tailing in Paris. It appears they are following her in the hopes she will lead them to a mysterious embezzler and her lover, Alexander, who has stolen billions of dollars from a European gangster.
On a train to Venice Elise sits down with a stranger, a tourist named Frank Tupelo (Johnny Depp). Frank is a math teacher from Wisconsin who is traveling abroad for the summer holiday. Elise hopes to mislead both the police and the gangsters who are following her into thinking she is meeting Frank because he is the mysterious Alexander, this way while they are busy following Frank, she can get away to meet her lover.
This thrust Frank into a highly dangerous situation where he is being pursued by many men, being shot at and generally having his life in continuous danger. In the meantime he seems to have fallen in love with the mysterious Elise.
The film came together very quickly last year. Jolie and Depp both had gaps in their schedule. A script and director were ready and the location was set. Filming took a brief 58 days in the city of Venice and Paris. From start to finish including post-production the movie was made in 11 months. I would say that kind of "express" film making shows up on the screen. There is a definite lack of energy. There seems to be no chemistry between Depp and Jolie and Depp continuously looks like he just woke up and hasn't had time to comb his hair and wash his face. The movie combines elements of comedy and drama but fails to find the correct balance. For a mystery or thriller there is a complete lack of suspense.
It was great to see Steve Berkoff back on the screen. he plays the gangster Reginald Shaw but most will remember him as General Olov in the Bond Film Octopussy, Victor Maitland in Beverly Hills Cop and Adolph Hitler in War and Remembrance. Even with a straight forward mob boss role Berkoff adds his signature touch of menace and steely determination.
The Tourist strives to follow in the footsteps of such great films as North By Northwest and Charade but misses the mark by a mile.
At The Movie House rating ** stars
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