REVIEW: 'The Tourist'

The ridiculously good looking Johnny Depp and Angelina star in this thriller, billed as "a web of intrigue, romance and danger" set against the backdrop of Paris and Venice. From the director of 2007 Oscar winner The Lives of Others. Now playing nationwide. Click here for session info.
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In pairing Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp in a romantic thriller set against the backdrop of Venice, The Tourist promises plenty. Sadly though, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s follow up to The Lives Of Others fails to live up to its potential, hampered by its lack of narrative tension or palpable sense of romance, despite looking the part.

It’s hard to go wrong shooting in Venice, especially with Jolie exuding the amount of movie star glamour she does here, but like recent release The American, this film seems to be more surface than substance. This is not to say The Tourist shares that film’s ‘70s thriller aspirations, but to forgive the conventions that come with a tonally lightweight effort such as this, the audience needs more to keep them interested.

Some of this can be attributable to Depp, whose performance as a maths teacher caught up in criminal financial intrigue leans a little too much on the bumbingly comic and is let down by a lack of chemistry with Jolie. Then there’s the ending: its predictability would be more welcome had the journey there been more enjoyable; the associated letdown offering little surprise after what it follows.

• Watch trailer for The Tourist
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