It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

a good movie. against its script. as result of smart work of Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn. and for a splendid idea who has not the right adaptation. at the first sigh, it has each ingredient to be a great film. politics, crime, love affair, shadows of guilty, ambiguous relationship, a place who could be used in many brilliant ways. and a great director. but, scene by scene, the impression remains the same - something missing. something important who is necessary to give coherence to a story who must be seductive in each detail. the good thing is the art of actors to complete the mistakes of text. but theirs fight is the perfect mirror for discover the spirit of improvisation behind the scenes.

The basic story has Nicole Kidman as an interpreter at the UN who accidentally overhears a conversation in which there's a threat to kill a tyrannical African dictator when he visits the UN in the near future. This presumably puts Silvia (the interpreter) at risk, as she's now targeted by those plotting to assassinate the guy. The problem is that, aside from a couple of scenes, I never really got sense of her being at risk. This really turned into a long, drawn-out disappointment - completely lacking in excitement, filled with ridiculous plot points and with a convoluted script that I guess is supposed to give you reason to doubt Silvia and to have some uncertainty as to what's going to happen. Unfortunately, there was really no surprise about the ending. It was the definition of an anti-climax, and the fact that (at the very end) Silvia was simply freed (albeit awaiting being deported) after pointing a gun to the head of the African dictator (no matter how ruthless he is?) Well, that's one of those ridiculous plot points. The story is lacking - it lacks both logic and punch. There was nothing here to draw me in and to make me care, although the handful of opening scenes, set in Africa and making clear the nature of the regime in question, tried hard to do that.Story aside (although it's a very big aside when the story's weak) Kidman and her co-star Sean Penn (as Secret Service agent Tobin Keller) tried hard. Their performances were fine. There's nothing much to criticize about them. I thought the backstory about Keller's personal life and recent tragedy was a little extraneous. I will say that I did appreciate that, while Silvia and Keller obviously develop an emotional bond as the movie progresses, there was no effort to include a romance between them. That would have been just too cliché.If anything, the various twists and turns in the story almost make it seem that someone was trying too hard to craft a political thriller - so hard that they forgot to include the thrills! (3/10)

This is a decent political conspiracy thriller with solid performances and some interesting ideas. Nicole Kidman is a South African interpretor at the UN who overhears the whisper of an assassination plot. Sean Penn is a secret service agent assigned to investigate it. The main conspiracy plot is well executed and there's some exciting moments in the movie, as well as all the clichés you come to expect of this genre - staring through venetian blinds onto rain soaked streets, hunched over laptops drinking whisky and speaking into wrist cuffs whilst waving pistols. For me, Kidman's performance is the weak link. It's reasonable but there's something I don't buy about her. I don't believe her past and feel irritated by her at points - though in her defence, that's sometimes the script / director who get her doing stupid stuff like playing an African flute in a moment that borders on comedy. Other than the odd silly moment, The Interpretor kept me gripped and Sean Penn's hair was constantly entertaining. This would make a great double bill with Fair Game - also starring Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman, oh sorry, I mean Naomi Watts.

I found the movie not to be as good as the majority of the critics did. In my opinion it has many flaws, a lot of details in the plot are unclear and have remained so, and even the suspense could have been better. Worse of all, the ending is ridiculous and completely unbelievable.On the positive side, Kidman and Penn both perform very well and the chemistry between them is good. Also good is the plot in general openly inspired with the history and the present of Zimbabwe, and more precisely the story of Robert Mugabe. All in all, a little better than standard Hollywood fare, but nothing special.