The International

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Plot: The International is a thriller about an evil bank empire that secretly trades arms and finances war around the world. Louis Salinger (Clive Owen) is an interpol agent working with New York district attorney Eleanor Whitman (Naomi Watts) to investigate international arms trading. The bank tries to obstruct the investigation by killing witnesses and investigators. (These are very blood-thirsty bankers.) 

Review: Both Louis Salinger and Eleanor Whitman are likeable characters, and the movie's complicated story keeps the action moving. I liked having a bank as the villian, although the bank is really a cartoon version of an evil bank, and it has little to do with finance. In this economy, I like the idea of an evil bank though.  The complicated plot was not too complicated for me. 

The movie had smart dialog (by Eric Singer) and some quotable lines. The movie was basically a genre picture with a message a bit like Jack Bower in 24 saying it is OK to be a vigilante and who shoots unarmed bad guys. 

There was a shootout at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, and I don't know how they made that. Pretty cool. 

Cast and crew:
Owen Wilson, Naomi Watts; directed by Tom Tykwer
Rating
2.5 flasks- almost 3
1/2

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"This is the essence of banking, to make us slaves of debt."

"If you control the debt, you control everything."