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Traveling Old Ground

I love Venice. It probably helps that it is one of the first major cities I ever toured, that I have only been there once, and that it is Venice. I love classic Hitchcock, and I can be taken up by an inspired thriller, like "Memento" or "Adaptation". "The Tourist", a decidedly Hitchcockian thriller, set in Venice, from Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, has all the earmarks of a throwback to the "To Catch a Thief" era. But the seemingly made-in-heaven pairing of Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie doesn't steal the show.

For the first time in recent memory, Depp has trouble getting out of first gear. His character, Frank, a Math teacher from Wisconsin, is two-parts awkward, one-part effete, with a generous splash of eyeliner. I will avoid spoilers while pointing out that there are justifications for this approach. But, even if ends justify means, I found it difficult to figure how this character could compete for the heart of Angelina Jolie's femme fatale.

Jolie is all grace as Elise, literally and figuratively strolling through the role with confidence and ease. Whereas Depp seems to try to update the clean-cut, youthful, all-American that inevitably becomes a patsy, Jolie plays the role closer to genre expectations. Though neither is in their twenties any longer, Depp's age seems to hurt him in this role whereas Jolie's years give her some depth. Still I wish we could see a little more of her character's soft side (though I think you can glimpse it in a long shot of her profile as she sails off in the sunset).

The best parts of "The Tourist" are the secondary characters. Steven Berkoff's gangster is pure evil. His face, twisting from grimaces of disappointment to self-indulging grins, to nihilistic, blank eyes, is a joy to watch. Paul Bettany's Acheson, a Scotland Yard detective as obsessed with his his prey, Pierce, and the law as Les Miserables' Javert, creates even more tension than Berkhoff's insatiable gangster. Timothy Dalton and Rufus Sewell make the most of their 15 minutes in the spotlight. Daniele Pecci as an Italian police officer shares Depp's most memorable and comic scenes, as Frank tries to report his own attempted murder. And the Italian and French police and Russian thugs provide perfect counterpoint to Depp, Berkoff, and Bettany.

"The Tourist" has a good plot. Motifs on risk-taking and value run throughout. The gangster is introduced intervening in his henchmen's card game, pushing the weaker player to go all-in, and grinning with pleasure at having read the opponent's poker face. We also learn that possession is everything to him, his very soul.

Thankfully, the film has some ideas, but they are secondary to plot and are not overwrought. And, like all good thrillers, the plot provides ample twists and cat-and-mouse humor. Best of all, the film has a very strong denouement. While there is much to like, I still can't help feeling the film is missing something. Maybe it is chemistry between Depp and Jolie? Maybe he is miscast, looking more like Johnny Depp, the expatriate, than Frank the tourist? Maybe Jolie finds the part too familiar to get lost in it? While it is a mystery, "The Tourist" is good enough for me to give it the benefit of the doubt... and three stars.