Plot: A woman named Elise (Jolie) is being trailed in Paris by a number of men who work for Scotland Yard. At a cafe, she receives a letter from Alexander Pearce, a former lover, with explicit directions to board a train to Venice, Italy, pick out a man who resembles him and make the police believe that this man is Alexander Pearce. A mysterious stranger, not involved with the police, also seems to be watching Elise. Elise burns the letter and boards a train.
She takes a seat beside Frank (Depp), an American tourist reading a spy novel. Frank is instantly attracted to her. The train arrives in Venice and they take a boat to Elise’s hotel. At dinner, much to Frank’s dismay, Elise admits to having feelings for another man, presumably Alexander Pearce. They share a kiss, witnessed by the men following her.
The next day, Frank awakens to find Elise gone. Men suddenly try to break into the hotel room. Frank barely escapes but is caught by the Italian police. A sympathetic detective listens to Frank’s story that he does not know why these men are after him. He takes Frank from the jail only to bring him to the clutches of the men who invaded Elise’s hotel room.
Impressions: When you pair 2 well known A-list talents like Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp in a film together like this, you expect a tidal wave of entertainment, a torrent of sexy, and a bludgeoning amount of entertainment. The Tourist doesn’t quite live up to those lofty expectations but I did enjoy the movie nonetheless with it’s wit, charm, and occasionally funny scenarios it’s very difficult not to enjoy the movie as you go along for the ride of unraveling the mystery surrounding Alexander Pearce.
Angelina Jolie is a tough actress to follow thanks to her gift of versatility. After seeing her in films like ‘Wanted’ and ‘Salt’ you can easily forget that she can also play a much more passive and ‘toned down’ seemingly regular woman. You can easily forget that this woman has a wide range of acting skill and can vacuum an audience into believing her characters. She certainly wouldn’t be considered for an Academy Award with this film, but she does deliver an oft overlooked side of Jolie while playing the effeminate, vulnerable yet commanding character of Elsie. I often looked for Jolie to pull a gun from her skirt and go terminator on those that were chasing her throughout the film, but that character never showed herself. This Jolie is a joy to see because it reminds you that she’s a woman.
Johnny Depp is one of those actors that I’ve been beginning to feel can ‘do no wrong’. I’ve enjoyed about every film that I’ve seen him in over the last 5 or so years. I haven’t seen Alice in Wonderland or Sweeney Todd, but I’m perfectly confident that his performance is consistent and that he’s just as enjoyable to watch in those movies as he is in this movie. Now Depp is another actor that I often forget can play the vulnerable character, but he reminds us with his interesting portrayal of Frank. His performance seems almost a mix of Jack Sparrow and the Ichabod Crane with the vulnerability, but charming person that Frank is in this movie.
The plot of the movie is pretty bland. I have seen so many spy movies over the years that some government agency, terrorist group, or mercenaries chasing a couple through exotic european locations that I’ve truly become densensitized to the idea and was a bit disappointed as the plot unfolded in the movie but thankfully the strong performances from the leads kept my interest. The detriment is that it was solely the performances that kept my interest as the plot and story were a huge miss for me not to mention the lack of chemistry between Depp and Jolie.
Overall I wouldn’t recommend seeing this in theaters or buying the DVD. Wait for cable when there isn’t anything else to watch because you really aren’t missing anything special.
