Angelina Jolie’s agent needs to get the woman some fresh roles. With the exception of 2008’s Changeling where she nailed the role of a mother pining for her lost child, The Tourist sees the pillow-lipped one in yet another femme fatale sort of role, on yet another high-stakes mission.
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| PHOTO COURTESY OF COLUMBIA PICTURES |
The first 15 minutes or so of The Tourist seem intent on only one thing—reminding the movie-goer of Jolie’s perfect physical proportions, with the cursory message that her character, Elise Ward, is a marked woman. In an opening scene, she overthrows dozens of special agents on her trail at a sidewalk café in Paris and boards a train bound for Venice. Making the acquaintance of a stranger, Frank (Johnny Depp), she draws him into a cat-and-mouse chase involving billions of dollars, some bloodthirsty gangsters and the Scotland Yard.
It’s around the half hour mark when one gets the sinking feeling that it’s going to be a longer and drearier evening than expected. There are a few boat-chases and gun action, but none of the sequences really stand out. Even the brilliant acting chops of Johnny Depp and his indomitable screen charisma are all but snuffled out in his portrayal of an incoherently designed character who doesn’t gel with the “twist” at the end. The Tourist is a thriller that sells itself short with a showdown that never materializes and a conclusion that beggars disbelief. An aspiring film student could have been behind the script, for all we know.
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