Welcome to the Shrine to Actors

The International is a complex film about a powerful bank that appears to be involved in shady practices, among them arms dealing, terrorism, and murder. Interpol agent Louis Salinger (Clive Owen) and Manhattan ADA Eleanor Whitman (Naomi Watts) pool their efforts in an attempt to expose and dismantle the bank, the two experiencing setback after setback with danger and political stonewalling at every turn.

The International is one of those types of films that is probably best viewed twice–once to get the overall arc of the story, and a second time to fully understand all the key players. I thought The International actually handled the large cast and maze of the investigation quite well. The explanations were kept fairly simple, and scattered in between scenes of action, so the viewer never felt weighed down by a ton of exposition. The film also keeps us on a steadily growing diet of quiet terror as the collateral damage of trying to take down such a powerful organization continues to escalate.

Clive Owen has always been good at playing intense, driven characters, and this is no exception. Naomi Watts is also one of the few actresses I get excited about seeing, and who can play believably tough, capable characters instead of looking like a Barbie doll trying to act smart. Owen and Watts have great chemistry, and give us heros who are more realistic than your usual action picture characters. Yes they’re tough, and smart, and determined–but they’re also scared, conflicted, and frustrated by the bureaucracy that prevents them from doing their jobs. Even while they’re working in extraordinary circumstances, viewers can identify with them and feel more involved in the story.

The large cast of international characters, the layers of the investigation and complexity of the outcome may leave some viewers in the dust, but over all I found it to be an engaging, tense, exciting film with stunning visuals, suspenseful action, and outstanding acting from all the actors. Look for a particularly intense performance from Brian F. O’Byrne (Brotherhood, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead) as The Consultant. He has all the moves right for this scary, skilled assassin and creates a multi-dimensional character with relatively little time on screen.

This film’s definitely worth a look. The International is now playing in theaters.

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Clive Owen, Naomi Watts, The International screencaps, c2009 Relativity Media, Columbia Pictures.

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So, here we are, more of Ryan Phillippe as Henry Denton in Gosford Park. Phillippe is a fine actor, and at age 34 has quite a few films under his belt already. He first found success with teen hits I Know What You Did Last Summer and Cruel Intentions, then moved up through Gosford Park, Igby Goes Down, Crash, Flags of Our Fathers and Breach. Not too shabby. He also made an appearance in Crimson Tide with Viggo Mortensen and Denzel Washington. I have several Viggo-centric screencaps of that movie lying around–I’ll have to see if Phillippe turns up in any of them.

But for now, we have Gosford Park pics, starting with Henry putting on perfectly innocent airs to temporary roommate Robert Parks (Clive Owen).

Heading down the dark hallway for his date with a glass of hot milk…actually the milk is for, and the date with, Lady Sylvia (Kristin Scott Thomas). His bright eyes, sensual pout, and noiseless swagger down the hallway is almost vampirish…

Kindly helping a lady with her dress…

Like Orlando Bloom and Rachel Griffiths in Ned Kelly, Ryan Phillippe and Kristin Scott Thomas are delicious together in the older woman/younger man pairing. She’s elegant and haughty and cold, and he’s vain and naughty and a cad–and they’re both incredibly sexy. In Gosford Park, each story was a small part of a greater arc, but still I wouldn’t have minded seeing more of these two in action, dancing around each other with a mixture of lust and contempt.

And we end on Henry Denton as the pale beauty in bed, bathed in sunlight.

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**Ryan Phillippe screencaps, Gosford Park, c2001 USA Films, Universal Studios.

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