Born in the States but raised in Africa, Silvia Broome is now an interpreter with the United Nations.  When a fault is found with a metal detector at the entrance, the U.N. is evacuated, and Silvia leaves behind her flute, only to return after hours that night to retrieve it when she overhears an assassination plot.

Tobin Keller is a Secret Service agent assigned to protect visiting foreign dignitaries, but is asked to follow up on Silvia Broome’s allegations of an assassination plot inside the U.N.

Both have a hard time being straight with one another as both have suffered deep pain in their lives.  Silvia’s parents and sister were killed by a landmine when she was only thirteen.  Tobin’s wife was killed in a car-wreck just two weeks earlier.

This film is filled a lot of international political action and intrigue yet manages to steer clear of American politics as it aptly states when a security guard says to Tobin Keller at the entrance to the U.N. headquarters, “You’re not in America.  This is International soil.”  At most, it could perhaps be considered a film designed to promote the U.N.

Speaking of the U.N. headquarters, The Interpreter is the first commercial film granted access to film there. Director Sydney Pollack (Out of Africa, Tootsie) made full use of the corridors, interpreter’s booths and the main conference room.  Then it is always nice when directors actually shoot in places their movies are taking place in—unfortunately this is not always practical. 

Pollack was also able to do most of his shooting actually in and around New York, including Brooklyn and a New York City Transit bus.  His scenes in Africa also were actually shot throughout Africa, South Africa and Mozambique.  

Pollack has also done an excellent job at bringing you in and taking you for a roller coaster ride with this really intense thriller.  He has incorporated many intense, gripping, and some surprising, yet horrifying scenes.  That’s not to say that this film is full of gore, but rather scenes that are shocking yet true.

This film also brings to its audience an interesting notion of forgiveness, particularly forgiveness someone who has killed a loved one.  Whether or not this notion actually has its roots in African cultures, as the film claims, it is still a very nice sentiment.

Nicole Kidman (Cold Mountain, To Die For) has done a nice job in her portrayal of a woman with a bit of a checkered past who really wants what is best for the world, and chose to work at the U.N. because she believed in it.  Although she does not keep her accent consistently throughout the film, as it is noticeably stronger in some parts than in others, it actually works—her character was only meant to be born in America but raised in Africa, giving her an Afrikaner-type accent, but if she’s been living in the U.S. again for a while, then her accent would undoubtedly be affected by that in some way.

Sean Penn (I Am Sam, Dead Man Walking), who has played both sides of the law in movies, and even had some real-life troubles with the law around the time of his brief marriage to musical superstar Madonna, fits nicely into the role of a seasoned Secret Service agent, who could tell instantly if any average American was lying to him, but is caught off guard by Silvia’s African-influenced temperance.

With its only apparent political agenda being to promote the U.N. and its roller coaster thrill ride, The Interpreter is definitely worth checking out on the big screen.