THE TOURIST - REVIEW


The poor man's Knight and Day? Perhaps not. Depp and Jolie are hardly the B sides of Cruise and Diaz. If anything The Tourist is a more laid-back alternative to the pumped up nonsense of Knight and Day. Both films have similarities though in that they are both throwbacks to Hitchcockian spy movies in the vein of North By Northwest and To Catch a Thief. So which works better?

I suppose it depends what you're in the mood for. If you're in need of some Mission Impossible-style silliness with multiple chase scenes and explosions then Knight and Day just about hits the spot. If however you want something just as silly but a tad more focused and sophisticated then The Tourist is a better bet: no dodgy CGI or slo-mo plane explosions there.

Although The Tourist is far from perfect and is closer to Salt than anything else, it feels like it's suffered some unfair bashing. The chemistry between both leads and the predictable end "twist" being the key complaints. And they are valid complaints indeed, Depp's fish-out-of-water tourist feels quite detached from Jolie's femme fatale but then again story-wise that makes sense. Why would he be lovey-dovey when he's clearly trying to distance himself from who he really is (it makes sense...kinda)? But yeah, the twist is predictable and doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It's a spy movie though...do they ever? It's usually more about the fancy settings and the ride than deep psychological torments or earth-shattering romances.

Anyway, the film delivers what it needs to and boasts some great locations, entertaining performances and quite a few fun moments so it's definitely worth checking out. Just don't expect an action flick or Tom Cruise to land in the Colosseum in a stars and stripes parachute. As awesome as that would be.

Not bad but could have done with a Summer release. 


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