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The Tourist (2010 film)

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The Tourist
Theatrical release poster
Directed byFlorian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Screenplay byFlorian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Christopher McQuarrie
Julian Fellowes
Produced byGraham King
Timothy Headington
Roger Birnbaum
Gary Barber
Jonathan Glickman
StarringAngelina Jolie
Johnny Depp
Paul Bettany
Timothy Dalton
Steven Berkoff
Rufus Sewell
CinematographyJohn Seale
Edited byJoe Hutshing
Patricia Rommel
Music byJames Newton Howard
Production
companies
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release dates
  • December 10, 2010 (2010-12-10) (United States)
  • December 15, 2010 (2010-12-15) (France)
Running time
103 minutes
CountriesUnited States
France
LanguagesEnglish
French
Italian
Russian
Spanish
Budget$100 million[1]
Box office$278,346,189[2]

The Tourist is a 2010 thriller/ romance and action drama film directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, starring Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp. It is a remake of the 2005 French action film Anthony Zimmer. GK Films financed and produced the film, with Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions releasing it in most countries through Columbia Pictures.[3] The $100 million-budgeted film went on to gross $278 million at the worldwide box office.[2]

Despite the negative reception from the critics, the film was nominated for three Golden Globes, with a debate arising over the question as to whether it was a comedy or a drama. Henckel von Donnersmarck repeatedly stated it was neither genre, calling it "a travel romance with thriller elements", but that if he had to choose between the two, he would choose comedy.[4]

Plot

The film opens with Elise Clifton-Ward (Angelina Jolie) being followed by French Police, working with Scotland Yard under the direction of Inspector John Acheson (Paul Bettany). Acheson has spent years hunting Elise's old lover, Alexander Pearce, who owes £744 million in back taxes and is believed to have received plastic surgery to alter his appearance completely. At a cafe, Elise receives written instructions from Pearce: board a train to Venice, pick out a man, and make the police believe that this decoy is Pearce himself. Elise burns the note, then manages to evade the police and board the train.

On the train, Elise picks Frank Tupelo (Johnny Depp), a U.S. community college teacher. She spends much time with him, seeming to start a romance. In the meanwhile, the police have managed to salvage the ashes of her burned note and assembled them to extract information regarding her rendezvous as well as her ruse. Aware of her location but not of the ruse, an informer from the police station communicates to Reginald Shaw (Steven Berkoff), a gangster from whom Pearce stole $2.3 billion, that Pearce is traveling with Elise on the train to Venice. Shaw immediately proceeds to Venice.

Elise invites Frank to stay with her at her room at the Royal Hotel Danielli that has been arranged for her in Venice. Pearce leaves further instructions for Elise to attend a ball. Elise abandons Frank, who is then chased by Shaw's men. While trying to escape from them, Frank is detained by the Italian police ostensibly for his own safety, only to have a corrupt inspector turn him over to Shaw's men in exchange for the bounty that has been placed on Pearce's head. Elise rescues Frank just before he is handed over, leading Shaw's men on an extended boat chase and escaping. She leaves Frank at the airport with his passport and money, urging him to go home for his own safety.

Elise is revealed to be an undercover Scotland Yard agent who was under suspension for her suspected sympathies with Pearce.. Because of her fears for Frank, she agrees to participate in a sting operation. At the ball as Elise wanders around trying to spot Pearce in the crowd, an envelope is placed on the table in front of her by a man who then quickly disappears into the crowd. Elise sees that the envelope is for her, and believes that the man must be Pearce himself. She tries to follow him through the crowd, calling out his name, but is stopped by Frank, who has managed to enter the event. Frank claims to be in love with Elise and invites her to dance with him, only to hauled away by the police. Elise opens the envelope and finds a note mentioning a rendezvous point, then heads off in her boat to this new rendezvous point; Shaw and his men tail her in their boat. Both parties are followed discreetly by the police in another boat, Frank held handcuffed inside to stop him from obstructing the investigation.

When Elise arrives at the destination, Shaw takes her prisoner, threatening to harm her unless she reveals the location of the stolen money. The police monitor the situation inside the rendezvous room through audio and video links. Despite Elise's peril, Acheson repeatedly turns down police requests to intervene with their snipers. While the police are occupied in monitoring the situation, Frank escapes from the police boat and confronts Shaw, claiming to be Pearce and offering to open the safe if Elise is allowed to leave safely. Shaw is skeptical and makes a counter offer that Frank should open the safe if he does not want to see Elise being cut up. Chief Inspector Jones (Timothy Dalton) arrives at the police stake-out, overrides Acheson, and orders the police snipers to fire into the room, killing Shaw and his men. Jones lifts Elise's suspension, but then terminates her employment.

Acheson receives a radio message that Pearce has been found not far from the rendezvous point, and rushes to the location where police have detained the suspect. However, the man claims to be just a tourist who has merely been following instructions texted to his mobile phone, mostly to be present at certain locations, for which he has been receiving payments. Meanwhile, Elise tells Frank that she loves him, but she also loves Pearce. Frank then suggests a "solution" to this dilemma; to Elise's surprise, he opens the safe by entering the correct code, thus revealing that he is really Alexander Pearce. He and Elise then take the money and depart, leaving a cheque in the safe for the full amount of the taxes he owes to be found by the police. Acheson prepares to chase after Pearce once he realizes the truth, but Jones overrides him, reasoning that with the taxes now paid in full Pearce's only crime is that he stole money from a now-dead gangster. Jones orders the case to be closed, much to Acheson's frustration. Frank and Elise sail away to a new life together, with Elise taking in and getting used to the new and completely altered face of her old lover.

Cast

Production

The project went through a number of directorial and cast changes. Originally, the film was set with Lasse Hallström, with Charlize Theron playing the lead. But Hallström left, allegedly over scheduling conflicts. Bharat Nalluri then came on, as did Tom Cruise, who was later replaced by Sam Worthington. When Jolie accepted her role, so did filmmaker Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck; but he left citing "creative differences" along with Worthington. After many names were mooted, including Alfonso Cuarón, Henckel von Donnersmarck returned, re-wrote the script in two weeks, and shot the film in 58 days (including 2nd unit days), with Johnny Depp taking the lead.

Henckel von Donnersmarck was assisted by stunt coordinator Simon Crane who devised the boat action sequence. In the DVD director's commentary, Henckel von Donnersmarck recounts that the film's one action sequence was devised by Simon Crane to allow for the speed limitations imposed on boats in Venice. This speed limit was strictly enforced by the Venetian authorities and there was a policeman on set at all times to make sure no wave movement would let the pillars (on which the palazzi are built) be exposed to oxygen. Henckel von Donnersmarck and Crane felt that if one boat was towing the other, this could perhaps be a realistic reason for a slow speed chase.

The whole film was made in only a little over 11 months, counting from the day Henckel von Donnersmarck came on board to re-write and direct to the day of the premiere in New York. The reason the film had to be shot so quickly was that Depp had to leave for Hawaii to start filming the fourth film of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. The reason post-production had to happen so quickly was because all commercially interesting release dates in 2011 were reserved for the potential start of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

Filming began in Paris with Jolie on February 23, 2010[5] and moved to Venice, where Depp joined the production, on March 1.

Release

Critical reception

The Tourist met with mostly negative reviews, with a 20% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 158 reviews. Its critical consensus states: "The scenery and the stars are undeniably beautiful, but they can't make up for The Tourist's slow, muddled plot, or the lack of chemistry between Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie."[6]

Roger Ebert gave the film 2 out of 4 stars.[7] Brandon Fibbs gave the film 2 and a half out of 4 stars, writing that "Henckel von Donnersmarck is allowed to have both a serious and a frothy side, but there is the feeling that he has not quite earned the liberty yet; that he needs a few more mature films under his belt before he can earn the right to say, “Time to do something fun and forgettable.”" [8] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film 0 out of 4 stars, writing that "(in) a year of craptaculars, The Tourist deserves burial at the bottom of the 2010 dung heap".[9] Travers would later place the film first on his list of the 10 worst movies of 2010, writing, "Depp and Angelina Jolie hit career lows, producing the chemistry of high-fashion zombies. The worst of the year, by a mile.[10] Casey Burchby of DVD Talk acknowledged that the movie was "beautifully shot by the accomplished Oscar-winner John Seale," but that the "hastily-prepared film does not care one iota about its characters." [11]

Positive English-language reviews include the Daily Mail, which gave it 5 out of 5 stars, calling the film "a glossy, sophisticated, gloriously improbable romp — escapist fun for these austere times".[12]

The Tourist ended up on Rotten Tomatoes Top Critic Stephanie Zacharek's "10 Best Movies of 2010".[13] Zacharek, in her review called The Tourist "a visually sensuous picture made with tender attention to detail and an elegant, understated sense of humor".[14]

Ricky Gervais famously made fun of Depp for starring in the film while presenting the 2011 Golden Globe awards. [15]

Awards

The film was nominated for three Golden Globes: Best Musical or Comedy, Depp for Actor Musical or Comedy and Jolie for Actress Musical or Comedy.[16][17] The fact that a film originally promoted as romantic thriller was nominated for the comedy category garnered the film and the Golden Globes considerable mockery. It was later revealed that the film was originally submitted by the studio as a drama, but Henckel von Donnersmarck then told the HFPA that the film should be categorized as a comedy. HFPA President Phil Berk noted that "Given the differing opinions, we asked the studio to screen the film for us in advance, and collectively, we decided that the elements of preposterous fun lent the film more to a comedy than a straight drama category."[18]

Awards
Ceremony Award Category Name Outcome
Hollywood Foreign Press Association[16]
Golden Globe Award
Best Picture: Musical or Comedy Nominated
Best Actor: Musical or Comedy Johnny Depp Nominated
Best Actress: Musical or Comedy Angelina Jolie Nominated
2011 Teen Choice Awards
Teen Choice Awards
Choice Movie: Action Nominated
Choice Movie: Actor Action Johnny Depp Won
Choice Movie: Actress Action Angelina Jolie Won

References

  1. ^ Fritz, Ben (2010-12-09). "Movie Projector: New 'Narnia' looks solid, 'Tourist' will struggle as Christmas movie season begins". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. Retrieved 2010-12-09.
  2. ^ a b "The Tourist (2010)". Box Office Mojo. 2011-03-10. Retrieved 2011-07-06.
  3. ^ Lowry, Brian. Variety http://weblogs.variety.com/bfdealmemo/2009/10/king-coins-the-tourist-at-col.html. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ^ Tim Appelo, Globe Comedy Nom for 'The Tourist': Now, That's Funny, The Hollywood Reporter, December 14, 2010, accessed February 2, 2011.
  5. ^ "See Brad and Angelina's Bosnia Date Night Before His Parents Arrived in Venice!". PopSugar.com. 2010-04-14. Retrieved 2010-10-08. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ "The Tourist (2010)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved February 25, 2011.
  7. ^ The Tourist :: rogerebert.com :: Reviews. Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2010-12-11.
  8. ^ [1].. Retrieved 2011-2-9.
  9. ^ By Peter Travers (2010-12-09). "The Tourist | Rolling Stone Movies | Movie Reviews". Rollingstone.com. Retrieved 2011-04-30.
  10. ^ "1. The Tourist". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 22, 2011.
  11. ^ "The Tourist : DVD Talk Review of the DVD Video". Dvdtalk.com. Retrieved 2011-04-30.
  12. ^ Tookey, Chris (December 14, 2010). "The Tourist: A very Jolie adventure for Johnny". London: Daily Mail. Retrieved December 15, 2010.
  13. ^ "Stephanie Zacharek's 10 Best Movies of 2010". Movieline. Retrieved 2011-04-30.
  14. ^ "REVIEW: Espionage Caper The Tourist Offers Mystery and Glamour, Plus Depp and Jolie". Movieline. Retrieved 2011-04-30.
  15. ^ "Ricky Gervais' 10 Bawdiest Jokes at the Golden Globes". The Hollywood Report. 2011-01-16. Retrieved 2012-10-04.
  16. ^ a b Tuesday, December 14, 2010 (2010-12-14). "The 68th Annual Golden Globe Awards NOMINATIONS | OFFICIAL WEBSITE of the HFPA and the GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS". Goldenglobes.org. Retrieved 2011-04-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  17. ^ "HFPA - Nominations and Winners 2010". Retrieved 2010-12-22.
  18. ^ Tim Appelo, 'Tourist' as Comedy Was the Director's Idea.
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