Often the term "tourist" comes with some baggage. It is usually not a term of praise from the locals, just the folks working in the travel and hospitality industry. The new film from director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (The Lives of Others, 2006) comes with high expectations due to the casting of Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp, the locations (Paris and Venice) and the pedigree of director von Donnersmarck. Despite all of these sparkling gems in the mix, The Tourist never gets going due to some epic failures.
First and foremost, there is no sizzle between the stars, their performances are stilted and Depp sports a rather unbelievable back-story. He's either the coolest math teacher in the world, or lying when he meets Jolie on a train from Paris to Venice. Some actors suffer from exposure in some roles, Depp is suffering here as we know him to be so much more suave than he comes across. Jolie still sizzles in her role, but after watching Salt we expect more than long stares from her beautifully made-up eyes.
While Venice looks great, and the brief scenes in Paris read like a tourism film, they can't overcome the rather unlikely story that unfolds against that background. Sometimes high-profile casting, beautiful scenery and a uber-hot foreign director can't save a bad script. The ending of this film was as plain as day minutes into the first reel which just left the audience waiting to see how we would get there. Hopefully von Donnersmarck will find another Hollywood film that better suits his unique and powerful style, one that is not overburdened with stars. He deserves better, as do we.
