The Tourist - a film review

With an amazing cast of Angelina Jolie, Johnny Depp, Paul Bettany, Timothy Dalton, and Steven Berkoff, under direction of the talented director, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, the Tourist promises to be a hit.  Set in Paris and Venice, to the forgotten Hitchcockian theme, it starts off looking like an old Hollywood film.

The story is simple: Elise Clifton-Ward (Angelina Jolie) is being followed by the British official John Acheson (Paul Bettany). She is a tie to a man named Alexander, whom the Scotland Yard hopes to catch.   Alexander instructs Elise to take the train to Venice and pick out a man who resembles him in shape and build in order to throw police off the track.  Elise chooses Frank Tupelo (Johnny Depp), who is an American tourist from Wisconsin.

A nervous math teacher, Frank immediately falls for Elise and follows her to a hotel in Venice, where a deadly intrigue unfolds.  Frank gets mistaken for Alexander, who is hunted by both a British gangster (Steven Berkoff) and the British police.  

Jolie is ravishing in this new role, exuding sexuality by merely standing, without taking her clothes off.  She glides, not walks, while turning heads.  Unlike her previous roles, she plays a lady by the likes of Grace Kelly and she knows it.  With skillful ease of a muse, Jolie creates an unforgettable presence as Elise.  Depp’s Frank, on the other hand, is downright boring.  Depp’s talent is completely wasted on this "down to earth" sap, who never gets inspired, despite kissing the most beautiful woman alive.  Depp's acting is only made worse by the film’s overall predictability. Instead of being surprising and dangerous, the plot twist is evident after the first 20 minutes, leaving the audience to yawn while Depp pretends to be a boring man he is not.

With the Russian Villains and Timothy Dalton popping up for a few scenes, the film has the opportunity to turn into a Bond like comedy, but it never gets there. Even great Berkoff is unconvincingly threatening as the gangster in a scene where he interrupts a suit fitting to strangle a minion.

In the end, the film makes a tourist out of the audience, forcing it to  coast through striking views of Venice and Jolie without getting too excited about the view. Seriously lacking in brain material, it offers little reward for the sophisticated movie goers.