The Tourist

For the first time ever, the two Hollywood legends that are Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp pair up in this remake of Sophie Marceau/Yvan Attal’s French thriller Anthony Zimmer.

Elise (Jolie), an English woman in Paris, is under surveillance from Interpol after her fugitive boyfriend, Pearce, stole two-billion dollars from a gangster and owes 744million pounds to the British government. Frank Tupelo (Depp) is a vulnerable maths teacher from America, travelling to Italy to get over a recent break up. Elise is given a letter from Pearce instructing her to board a train and find someone of similar height and build to act as bait for her pursuers, and who better than a lonely tourist?

Donnersmarck certainly makes the most of the stunning Venetian backdrop with high speed pursuits through the narrow canals and a cat-and-mouse chase across the loosely tiled rooftops. But as the pursuit heats up from both Scotland Yard and the raging gangsters, one cannot help but feel sorry for the love-struck Frank who is trapped in a very deep well.

One could be excused for not being able to coin the exact genre of The Tourist. The soft violence and action create a tense atmosphere, which is immediately broken by Depp’s clumsiness in both his actions and his “excellent Spanish”. Moreover, balcony kissing scenes with a Cinderella soundtrack reveal the inevitable chemistry between our two characters. Or does it?

Depp’s rather dull character doesn’t dissuade from his dazzling good looks, whilst Jolie is as stunning as ever with her hips, lips and a surprisingly convincing English accent. This may be no Oscar winning film, but The Tourist is the ideal film for anyone who fancies watching a film with a bit of everything!

Jordan Maciel