The Wake

There are bad thrillers and there are good thrillers. And then there are good thrillers that manage to be socially relevant at the same time. I’m very pleased to tell you that “The Interpreter” falls into the last category.

A Secret Service agent (Sean Penn) is assigned to investigate when a U.N. interpreter (Nicole Kidman) overhears a plot to assassinate the president of a fictional African nation. Is the plot coming from a rival from his country looking to change the power structure? Or is there more involved? The current president is accused of the genocidal killing of his own people, arming young boys and sending them out to kill (seen in the chilling opening scene). Could the assassination plot actually be a political ploy to divert attention from the slaughters?

As far as thrillers go, the film mostly strays from typical chase scenes and gun battles, concentrating more on the characters and situations to create suspense. Some well-written dialogue keeps things moving and there’s no distracting romance subplot to slow things down (though it’s winkingly hinted at). All this adds up to an engrossing film, one that demands a lot of thought and attention.

While it may sound like a standard assassination suspense movie (“The Jackal”), what makes “The Interpreter” so much more is the fact that it brings up important political and social issues. The effectiveness of international governing bodies and the atrocities that can and do occur around the globe are the prime examples (check out Hotel Rwanda, also reviewed in this issue of The Wake). Though there are several plot implausibilities (none overly distracting to me), what most bothered me about “The Interpreter” was that it never dealt with the issues it brought out. The movie is first and foremost an entertaining and intelligent fictional thriller. And with so few of those in existence, I don’t dare complain — too much.