The Tourist - Thoughts

As someone who follows Angelina Jolie’s filmography, I got to know of The Tourist around the time of its release in 2010. Unlike Wanted, Salt and some of her other movies which immediately caught my attention, The Tourist seemed about okay, but not something I was in a hurry to check out. 3 years after, I finally got around to renting the DVD and checking it out. In The Tourist, Angelina Jolie plays Elise Ward, who befriends a tourist, dragging him unsuspectingly into a secret agenda, one that is also of interest to the authorities, and the mob.

With modest and meager expectations I fired up the movie, which started off slow, yet with a fascinating sense of mystery. What appealed to me instantaneously were the scenic visuals and wonderful cinematography. The bulk of the movie is shot in Venice, and in day light; The Tourist does justice to the locale, with its magnificent grand outdoor camera work. As the plot picks up pace, I found myself wondering if things were predictable or unexpected, and that constant intrigue was a key element of the movie. Though the film maintained a fairly calm pace throughout, with a few action sequences, it remained interesting consistently, holding on to audience attention. The character development is impressive, and in line with plot progression. Being neither a hardcore action flick, nor a very intense plot, The Tourist will work well for casual movie goers, looking for entertainment and fun, with a little thrill. At the end of the day, it’s hard not to love The Tourist, with its functional and intriguing plot, and the excellent performances from the leads.

The plot of The Tourist has an extremely high dependency on its lead characters. That being the case, it was a wise decision to bring on Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp, as their character portrayals are simply excellent.  The plot is largely built around the Elise Ward character, and Angelina Jolie is just phenomenal in her sophisticated rendition of Elise Ward. It’s not surprising that she was chosen, as I do recall having seen her in similar confident and commanding roles. Similarly, Johnny Depp is at home as Frank Tupelo, the humor though not obvious, comes across in a gentle manner. He compliments Jolie’s performance, creating for an ideal balance, doing splendidly as the simple, down to earth, math professor. In a nutshell, the two of them will keep you glued to The Tourist, up until the credits roll.

The DVD I was sampling was an Asia region spec, with audio commentary languages including Hindi, and some other European languages. Needless to say I watched it in English, Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, which was good. Dialog was clear, and there was some minimal use of positional sound; but the overall audio presentation was on point. Video was very nice, and complemented the lovely outdoor daylight photography of the movie. Though it wasn't the sharpest picture, it was clear and was visually appealing; color tones clearly favoring warm yellowish, brownish tints. The DVD did have the usual extras, but nothing was special or worth mention.

My Recommendation: Watch It (Romance in Venice with a twist)