SCREEN IT! PARENTAL REVIEW: THE INTERPRETER

"THE INTERPRETER"
(2005) (Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn) (PG-13)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Mild	Heavy	Extreme	*Moderate	Extreme

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Minor	Mild	Heavy	None	Moderate

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Heavy	Mild	Heavy	Moderate	Extreme

QUICK TAKE:: Suspense/Thriller: After a United Nations interpreter reports overhearing plans regarding the assassination of a controversial African leader, a Secret Service agent tries to figure out if she's making it up, is just an innocent bystander or may be somehow involved in the plot.

PLOT:

Silvia Broome (NICOLE KIDMAN) is an African-born translator who works at the United Nations translating foreign languages into English. When she returns one night to collect her belongings from her office, she overhears whispers on the main floor that seem to point to a pending assassination attempt of Edmund Zuwanie (EARL CAMERON), the ruler of the African country of Matobo.

Considering that the controversial leader is scheduled to address the U.N. regarding his rule and allegations of genocide, Secret Service agents Tobin Keller (SEAN PENN) and Dot Woods (CATHERINE KEENER) of the agency's Dignitary Protection division are called in to investigate. Both are good at their jobs, and despite Tobin having to deal with his estranged wife's unexpected death two weeks earlier, he tries to get to the bottom of the truth.

With Zuwanie's head of security, Nils Lud (JESPER CHRISTENSEN), anxiously awaiting any word on their investigation, Tobin and Dot try to discern what Silvia's motives, if any, might be. Since she's one of the few people around who speaks the leader's native dialect, Tobin wants to rule out sheer coincidence that she would be in the right place at the right time to overhear such plans.

As he and the other agents dig deeper into Silvia's past, they come up with unexpected discoveries. From that point on, they try to figure out if she's just an innocent bystander who's now in danger of being killed herself or perhaps is somehow involved in the plot, all while preparing for Zuwanie's visit to the U.N.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: Older teens may be interested in it, as might anyone who's a fan of someone in the cast. Younger kids will probably show no interest in this offering.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13: For violence, some sexual content and brief strong language.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: To avoid giving away any late surprises/revelations, only the main characteristics are noted below.; NICOLE KIDMAN plays an interpreter for the United Nations who overhears a possible assassination plot and must then contend with her life seemingly being in danger and Tobin's questioning of her motives.
SEAN PENN plays a Secret Service agent in charge of protecting foreign dignitaries who's assigned to investigate the assassination rumor. While good at what he does, he's still reeling from his estranged wife's recent, accidental death and finds himself wanting to protect Silvia. He drinks a few times.
CATHERINE KEENER plays his partner who's also good at her job but is concerned about Tobin following his wife's death.
EARL CAMERON plays the controversial ruler of an African nation who was once loved by his people but is now charged with genocide.
JESPER CHRISTENSEN plays his head of security who wants Tobin and the others to complete their investigation and catch the bad guys before his boss arrives.
BYRON UTLEY plays the main villain who's responsible for the murders of various people.
GEORGE HARRIS plays the exiled ruler of the country who may or may not be vying for Zuwanie's position.; SEAN PENN plays a Secret Service agent in charge of protecting foreign dignitaries who's assigned to investigate the assassination rumor. While good at what he does, he's still reeling from his estranged wife's recent, accidental death and finds himself wanting to protect Silvia. He drinks a few times.
CATHERINE KEENER plays his partner who's also good at her job but is concerned about Tobin following his wife's death.
EARL CAMERON plays the controversial ruler of an African nation who was once loved by his people but is now charged with genocide.
JESPER CHRISTENSEN plays his head of security who wants Tobin and the others to complete their investigation and catch the bad guys before his boss arrives.
BYRON UTLEY plays the main villain who's responsible for the murders of various people.
GEORGE HARRIS plays the exiled ruler of the country who may or may not be vying for Zuwanie's position.; CATHERINE KEENER plays his partner who's also good at her job but is concerned about Tobin following his wife's death.
EARL CAMERON plays the controversial ruler of an African nation who was once loved by his people but is now charged with genocide.
JESPER CHRISTENSEN plays his head of security who wants Tobin and the others to complete their investigation and catch the bad guys before his boss arrives.
BYRON UTLEY plays the main villain who's responsible for the murders of various people.
GEORGE HARRIS plays the exiled ruler of the country who may or may not be vying for Zuwanie's position.; EARL CAMERON plays the controversial ruler of an African nation who was once loved by his people but is now charged with genocide.
JESPER CHRISTENSEN plays his head of security who wants Tobin and the others to complete their investigation and catch the bad guys before his boss arrives.
BYRON UTLEY plays the main villain who's responsible for the murders of various people.
GEORGE HARRIS plays the exiled ruler of the country who may or may not be vying for Zuwanie's position.; JESPER CHRISTENSEN plays his head of security who wants Tobin and the others to complete their investigation and catch the bad guys before his boss arrives.
BYRON UTLEY plays the main villain who's responsible for the murders of various people.
GEORGE HARRIS plays the exiled ruler of the country who may or may not be vying for Zuwanie's position.; BYRON UTLEY plays the main villain who's responsible for the murders of various people.
GEORGE HARRIS plays the exiled ruler of the country who may or may not be vying for Zuwanie's position.; GEORGE HARRIS plays the exiled ruler of the country who may or may not be vying for Zuwanie's position.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
Then read OUR TAKE of this film.

(Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:

The following is a brief summary of the content found in this PG-13 rated suspense/thriller. Profanity consists of at least 6 "s" words, while other expletives and some colorful phrases are uttered. Brief, sexually related dialogue is present, as is a scene featuring two scantly clad exotic dancers (one in a thong bottom that shows off most of her bare butt) entertaining various men.

Violence consists of people murdering others by various means (shootings, terrorist bombs, smothering) while we see that other murders have taken place and people aim guns at others. Some of those scenes have bloody results (and many dead bodies are seen lined up in a building) and may, along with other moments of peril, be unsettling or suspenseful to some viewers, particularly those with low tolerance levels for such material. The film's various villains all have bad attitudes, while some characters drink or smoke, and the two main characters are still affected by deaths (recently and long ago) in their families.

Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: We see Tobin holding an empty glass in a bar where others drink.
Tobin drinks at his place.
Silvia has what looks like a beer.
We see a photo of a person with a glass of wine.
Tobin has a drink.

BLOOD/GORE: We see rows of murdered people lying on the floor (mostly in deep shadows, but we do see some blood on them, hear the sound of flies and see one man reacting to the smell).
We see blood on some men who've just been shot.
We see a photo of an African boy who's missing part of his arm (a healed wound with no blood, etc.).
Various people, including Silvia, some agents and various bystanders have bloody cuts on their bodies and blood on their clothing following a terrorist bus bombing. Silvia later still has that blood on her face (and Tobin tries to wipe some off) and then dried cuts even later.
We briefly see a murdered man sitting in a bathtub filled with bloody water (we later see a photo of the same).
We briefly see a dead man's head and then later a photo of the same (no blood).
A man's clothing is bloody after he's been shot dead.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: We hear that Zuwanie is responsible for genocide in his country.
The film's other various villains all have bad attitudes for their attempts or success at killing others.
Tobin's boss wants to use Silvia as bait to find the would-be assassin(s).
We see that a high profile man is in on an apparent assassination attempt.

FRIGHTENING SCENES: Scenes listed under "Violence," "Blood/Gore" and "Jump Scenes" may be unsettling or suspenseful to younger viewers and/or those with low tolerance levels for such material.
Three men drive to an old soccer stadium to meet some other people. Only two go inside (cautiously) where they meet three kids, one of which shows them a room filled with rows of murdered people. When the two come out, a kid blasts them with machine gun fire, killing one and badly wounding the second. The kid then walks up to the wounded man, puts the gun barrel to his head and fires (we don't see the impact). The third man outside the stadium then scrambles out into the tall grass to avoid being detected.
Silvia returns to her U.N. office late at night to retrieve her bag. She then overhears whispering through the audio system from the main floor and then panics when her overhead light finally flickers on, thus exposing herself to whoever's out there. She then quickly exits the building.
While riding on her scooter through the city streets, Silvia realizes she's being followed by a car that catches up to and is then right on her bumper (she manages to get away).
Silvia reports the threat she heard as "It will end here, the teacher will never leave the room alive."
Silvia thinks she's being watched on the street.
Silvia notices that one of her decorative African masks is missing from her wall. Just then, she gets a phone call but there's only static on the line. When she turns around, she sees a man at the window, holding a phone and that mask over his face.
There's talk about a potential suicide bomber and that there's no standard profile for such a person.
Silvia confronts an exiled leader from her country and states that he's a killer (as his bodyguards eye her wearily).
Tobin, Dot and another agent enter an apartment with their guns drawn, slowly looking around. They find a dead body in a closet, and when Dot goes to turn on the lights, Tobin stops her just in time as they see that the light switch is rigged to booby-trap explosives (other explosives are seen on a table).
A number of key players are on a city bus, including a potentially dangerous suspect and the agents following him. On the radio, Tobin orders for the agent to get everyone off the bus, but it's too late. A bomb left by the suspect explodes, destroying the bus, killing 17 people (and wounding more) and causes a lot of property damage around it. We later see a partial flashback to that explosion.
Tobin sees a killer in Silvia's apartment (he's across the street doing surveillance work) and then races over there to try to stop the killer who we see slowly walking through Silvia's place with his silencer equipped gun (we earlier saw Silvia starting the shower and closing the bathroom door). The killer then fires several shots through the shower curtain and then at Tobin who bursts into Silvia's place, returning fire at the killer. More shots are exchanged and we then see that the killer is dead on the other side of a wall.
As Zuwanie arrives in NYC and approaches the U.N., Tobin and other agents race against the clock to figure out who the killer is and then stop them before anything bad happens.
We see a would-be assassin assembling a sniper rifle to shoot a ruler dead.
Tobin holds his gun on a suspect, with police then holding their guns on him and then another man.
Silvia grabs a man's gun and aims it at his head, eventually placing it against his head (and cocking it) as another person tries to talk her out of killing the man.

GUNS/WEAPONS: Handguns/Machine guns/Explosives: Carried and/or used to threaten, wound or kill others and/or cause property damage. See "Violence" for details.
We see several photos of Zuwanie with his signature handgun.
We see a photo of Silvia and others from years ago where they're carrying automatic weapons.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Phrases: "And all that sh*t," "Oh sh*t," "Holy sh*t," "Get the hell out," "You/I screwed up," "It's all gone to hell," "How the hell am I supposed to protect you?" "What the hell /is going on/is she doing?" "Well that's just rude," and "Like hell you are."
Tobin unplugs a jukebox to clear the song list it's playing and thus allow him to play the song he chooses.

JUMP SCENES: Silvia suddenly sees a man wearing a African mask at her window.
A city bus suddenly explodes.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): A heavy amount of suspenseful music plays in the film.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): None.

PROFANITY: At least 6 "s" words, 7 hells, 2 uses each of "G-damn" and "Jesus" and 1 use of "God."

SEX/NUDITY: We see two scantly clad exotic dancers in a strip club, including one dancing around a foreign dignitary in her thong bottom (that shows most of her bare butt).
We see a photo of a jumping African boy and it appears that we see the side of his bare butt.
A comment is made that some telephone numbers were checked out and some were "sex lines."

SMOKING: Some miscellaneous people smoke in several scenes (including a person in a photo).

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: We see Tobin drop his wedding ring into an empty glass in a bar. He then calls home and twice listens to the sound of his wife's voice on the answering machine.
Tobin's boss asks if he's okay to come back and Tobin says he's better when he's working. We then later hear that his wife, who left him again (but had always returned in the past), was killed two weeks ago in a car accident with her lover.
Tobin hears a message from his late wife who says she hopes he hasn't changed the locks to their place.
We hear that Silvia's parents and sister were killed by a landmine in Africa when Silvia was 12.
When Tobin comments on Silvia's long-dead family, she silences him and says "we don't name the dead."
Silvia states that she has a brother back in Africa, but that they've lost touch with each other. She later explains that she knows he's alive, but that she's not to him (for giving up their rebel cause).
Silvia learns that her brother was killed in Africa.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: The U.N. and its role.
We hear that Zuwanie is responsible for genocide in his country.
Silvia states that she believes in the U.N. and what it's trying to accomplish.
We see a boy walking down an African road with bandages across both of his eyes.
We see a photo of an African boy who's missing part of his arm (a healed wound with no blood, etc.).
Tobin's boss asks if he's okay to come back and Tobin says he's better when he's working. We then later hear that his wife, who left him again (but had always returned in the past), was killed two weeks ago in a car accident with her lover.
We hear that Silvia's parents and sister were killed by a landmine in Africa when Silvia was 12.
The comment that countries have gone to war over misinterpretations.
When Tobin comments on Silvia's long-dead family, she silences him and says "we don't name the dead."
The notion that the only way to end grief is to save a life.
The comment that vengeance is a lazy form of grief.
Silvia says that you should pass the dead by and let them go.
Talking of her past as a rebel, Silvia admits that she shot and killed a boy who was about to kill her (and then gave up her rebel activity following that).
The notion that words and compassion are the better way to bring about change, even if they're slower than the gun.
Silvia has a notebook detailing the deaths of rebels and how they were killed.

VIOLENCE: Three men drive to an old soccer stadium to meet some other people. Only two go inside (cautiously) where they meet three kids, one of which shows them a room filled with rows of murdered people. When the two come out, a kid blasts them with machine gun fire, killing one and badly wounding the second. The kid then walks up to the wounded man, puts the gun barrel to his head and fires (we don't see the impact). The third man outside the stadium then scrambles out into the tall grass to avoid being detected.
One villain, upset with his accomplice, grabs him by the head and then smothers him with a pillow, ending with punching hard down onto that pillow (we later see the dead accomplice).
A number of key players are on a city bus, including a potentially dangerous suspect and the agents following him. On the radio, Tobin orders for the agent to get everyone off the bus, but it's too late. A bomb left by the suspect explodes, destroying the bus, killing 17 people (and wounding more) and causes a lot of property damage around it. We later see a partial flashback to that explosion.
We briefly see a murdered man sitting in a bathtub filled with bloody water (we later see a photo of the same).
Silvia has a flashback or imagined memory of her family driving along and then see the fiery explosion that killed them (no impact).
Tobin sees a killer in Silvia's apartment (he's across the street doing surveillance work) and then races over there to try to stop the killer who we see slowly walking through Silvia's place with his silencer equipped gun (we earlier saw Silvia starting the shower and closing the bathroom door). The killer then fires several shots through the shower curtain and then at Tobin who bursts into Silvia's place, returning fire at the killer. More shots are exchanged and we then see that the killer is dead on the other side of a wall.
We see that a would-be assassin has killed or knocked out a man.
Lud shoots and kills a man, and then shoots a pane of glass behind him (the shards fall on people below them, but we don't see any injuries).
Tobin holds his gun on a suspect, with police then holding their guns on him and then another man.
Silvia grabs a man's gun and aims it at his head, eventually placing it against his head (and cocking it) as another person tries to talk her out of killing the man.

Reviewed April 19, 2005 / Posted April 22, 2005

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