muons The movie starts with a bang and the tension mounts with the open mike incidence at the UN center. Then, a lull phase kicks in with lots of fluffy subplots including background check, lie detector test, family history which drag it on and on. Those are perhaps needed for character development but could have been made more interesting. The tempo picks up after Silvia is put under 24 hr surveillance and with the ensuing events. Good acting from S. Penn and N. Kidman although she physically looks too soft and delicate for what she went through in her childhood and young adult years. The plot is sort of predictable but with good acting and directing, the movie is still enjoyable if you ignore the utterly puerile finale.

SnoopyStyle Silvia Broome (Nicole Kidman) is an UN interpreter. She overhears two men discussing a mysterious plot in an African language. "The Teacher will never leave this room alive." Allege war criminal Matobo president Edmond Zuwanie is coming to address the UN General Assembly. She becomes convinced that the threat is against Zuwanie and tells the UN security. U.S. Secret Service Tobin Keller (Sean Penn) and Dot Woods (Catherine Keener) are assigned to protect Zuwanie and they investigate Silvia. It turns out that her family suffered under Zuwanie and she is connected with the opposition.This starts as an interesting thriller with the UN as a backdrop. The political intrigue is somewhat engrossing like a murky 70s thriller. Kidman is cold and Penn is a bit unstable. I wish his character is the protagonist and the audience can unravel the intrigue from the outside. Kidman's character is better with mystery. The movie should keep some distance from her. The audience should keep guessing about her. I do have a few questions about the ending and it drags on a bit too long. It should probably use an alternate ending.

ernesti I thought Nicole Kidman as an interpreter of some African language isn't believable at all and i couldn't get over it. The film itself is fine but making wrong casting choices can prove to be crucial for the credibility of the entire film. It's obvious that Kidman's much more believable as some upper-class housewife character than as the character who had lived and grown up in Africa.The usual pattern in Hollywood films is that the main character becomes a super hero and somehow fights against the evil. This time it's no different at all and the film may seem quite unsurprising as many events can be expected to take place.In my opinion this film isn't among Pollack's best movies mainly due to wrong casting choice. It's still watchable if you don't expect to see a masterpiece.

rowmorg Not quite an eight: the script was not good enough. No one said anything memorable, for example. And the couple did not make out, although they should have. However, the point of this movie is that Nicole Kidman (playing the title role) is gorgeous. She's tall, has a good rack (even if padded) and a lovely, sensitive face. In this picture she has tons of back story involving family tragedy, rebellion, diplomacy and so forth, and she conveys the load in a restrained way that only makes her more sexy. Of course, her counterpart, Sean Penn (playing the Secret Service agent) is absurd: for a start he is almost a foot shorter in stature, and his face crumples so predictably under the weight of his own shattering back story (his unfaithful wife died a few weeks ago in a car crash). But they work quite well together, particularly when he confronts her at the end and gets her to disarm, although it is her own decision ultimately. They meet afterwards to resolve the question of her guilt, not to kiss. Altogether a decent, civilised film for grown-ups, although the reputed budget of $80 million again seems absolutely outrageous. Surely one-tenth of that would have sufficed!