Can catching a trip to Italy make for good cinema?

Take two of the hottest stars right now. Add a pinch of one of the most beautiful countries in the world and mix it up with a nice little twist and you have the making of a fun few hours at the cinema. Johnny Depp has become hot property. The dude can act, and due to the amazing success of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies (which I don't really care for, give me Edward Scissorhands over it any day) Johnny has been able to have his pick of roles. Angelina Jolie burst onto the scene in one of the biggest ways scooping up an Oscar for her role in Girl, Interrupted (and deserving so). Although her public life is somewhat unusual, there is something about her onscreen presence that gets many peoples butts onto cinema seats. So what happens when you bring two of these actors together for a new movie? You get the new thriller "The Tourist." Was it any good? Read on and find out.

The story goes a little something like this. Angelina Jolie plays Elise Clifton-Ward a British woman who is being followed by some mysterious men. But these men aren't that mysterious as Elise knows perfectly well why they are after her. Elise's lover , Alexander, has stolen over 700 million pounds from a mob boss who the British Intelligence want to take down while also taking down Alexander. Although, they have not the slightest clue what he looks like, following Elise, they feel will lead them to him. With only notes given to her in different ways, Elise is instructed to find someone in similar build and looks who she can set up so that her and her lover can escape without a trace. And here is where "The Tourist" (I love it when a movie says the title of the film) comes into it. Johnny Depp plays Frank, an ordinary 40 something high school math teacher who is going to Italy for a holiday. When he feasts his eyes on Elise, with her beautiful and seductive looks, he does not know what he is about to get himself into. Elise is about to take Frank on a bit of a ride and will soon become a big part in the film. From here on it becomes a game of cat and mouse and mistaken identity. And here is when the movie gets fun. But I am going to stop myself. I'm not going to ruin it for you.

This movie is such a throw back to the old school films from the 50's and 60's. But instead of Cary Grant we have Johnny Depp and instead of Audrey Hepburn we have Angelina Jolie. With minimal blood and guts, over the top action sequences and great chemistry between the two leads, this movie was enjoyable from the start. I guess though Angelina could play this role in her sleep, but it was nice to see Johnny play the all American joe, and really pull it off. Add to the dynamic Timothy Dalton as the head Director of the division assigned to the task, as well as Paul Bettany who you can feel is going to tear his hair out at any moment with the stress these two are causing him, round out the cast nicely.

Directed by Florian Henckle von Donnersmarck (don't ask me how you say it) he uses his third actor perfectly and that is Italy. The cinematography is what really captures this movie and building the action around Italy makes it a perfect companion for the film. The director knows he is making a stylish thriller and allows there to be a bit of comedy mixed with some intense scenes of fun. Finally a movie comes a long which does not use CGI, but can still manage to capture the audiences attention. Congrats to the production team for this.

Did I have as much problems as other reviewers with this movie? Not at all. I have no idea why they are ripping this movie to pieces. It is not boring as many are complaining. ( I didn't hear anyone complain when I left the cinema). There was chemistry. It was interesting. And it has a few twists which I didn't see coming, and I can usually pick them (trust me I have seen a lot of movies). Sometimes, I think reviewers love to finally destroy actors who have been so great for so long and they all get together conspiring to destroy films. To me this movie was not that. Trust me I have seen some of the worst movies this year which critics loved (I am taking about The American the worst movie ever made). Make up you own mind. This movie is perfect holiday fun. It is not going to win any awards, but it will make you enjoy going to the cinema for a few hours for a good popcorn flick. In my opinion it was fun, exciting and a nice throw back to the old school flicks of yesteryear. The Tourist 7.5/10