Interpol Agent Louis Salinger (Clive Owen) amd Manhatten District Attorney Elenour Whitman (Naomi Watts) are working together to bring down a multinationalbank, The International Bank of Business and Credit (otherwise known as the IBBC). BothWhitman and Salinger suspect that the IBBC are secretly funding terrorist activities around the globe. There suspisions are all but comfirmed when Salingers business partner suffers a brutal heart attack under suspicious circumstances, which they believe to be murder. As they zero in on the IBBC, the stakes become even higher with the IBBC resorting to killing prominent political figures to keep their secrets hidden. While the pair travel accross the globe, Salinger slowly becomes a much more vengefull and unstable man, with only Whitman there to keep him steady. The International is a very intriguing film, and could have been a great and very memorable action thriller, if only it was handled better. But I will start with the good.

The acting is very solid by all the actors. Ofcourse, the standout here is Clive Owens portrayal of Louis Salinger, although I am a bit concerned about his future career. After watching a few of his previous films, he's basically playing the same character as in his previous films, if only more violent. He wasnt really playing Charles Schine from Derailed, nor was he playing Ray Koval from Duplicity, he was essentially playing Clive Owen. But, luckily, it works for The International. Australian Actress Naomi Watts puts on a very good Australian Accent, and her performance is very solid. Theres also a very well directed and edited scene shot in the Guggenheim Museum, and the plot is quite intriguing and kept me hooked for the most part. So whats wrong with The International? Well for starters, Naomi Watts character of Eleanour Whitman, is a complete waist of script. Infact, not only is she a completely useless and pointless addition to the film, shes barely even human. You dont find out about her motivation throughout the film, nor to you find out anything about her character.

Its really a missed opportunity, as a brief scene shows Whitman with her family. However, you dont even find out the family members names. To make it worse, the fact that the film advertises itself by the 'constant globe hopping' is simply wrong, as you dont get a decent look at the scenery, ie. Berlin might aswell be New York for all we know. Director Tom Tykwer and screen writer Eric Warren Singer forget one fatal thing in the film ; it doesnt have an ending. They try to convey that this bank has no conscience, and will take whatever it takes to keep their secrets, even killing their own team members. However this is done very badly, and leaves us with a very unspectacular rooftop chase that does little more them remind us that the former estimed directorof Run, Lola Run has been far surpassed by many other directors. The film also doesnt know what it wants to be. The first half of the film is strongly an action flick, however the ending collides with this completely. If you've seen the film, youll know what I mean.

As previously stated, The International could have been great. But despit some good plotting, good acting and some good action scenes, it ends up becoming a very forgettable and poor film. The ending is the main culprit here, as it makes the movie seem poor. The end of the film ends up not feeling whole, and ruins the plot. Infact, the only scenes you may remember from the film you would have wished was filmed and edited by a muchmore qulaified and estimed actor director that could live up to its expectations. Its could have passed as either a great action film, or a fairly original confronting and memorbale movie. Like I said, most of the regular elements of what should make a film great are here, but are ruined by the end of the flick. Definately a miss, unless you are Clive Owen or Naomi Watts fanatics, or just want to watch a bad movie.

Overall : 2.5/5