Ed's Review Dot Com

GK Films, Spyglass Entertainment, Studio Canal

Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, Paul Bettany, Timothy Dalton, Steven Berkoff, Rufus Sewell, Christian De Sica, Allessio Boni, Daniele Pecci, Giovanni Guidelli, Raoul Bova

Elise Clifton-Ward (Jolie) is involved with a shady character who ripped off the mob for a couple billion dollars. But Scotland Yard wants him for back taxes of about 7 Million. He sends a message to Elise to take a train to Venice and to find someone on the train of his size and general appearance. She chooses Frank Tupelo, a Math Teacher from Wisconsin who’s on a vacation. By randomly selecting him, she sets off a series of misadventures in his poor life. Both the good guys and the bad guys think he’s the one their looking for, and everyone is out to kill the poor guy. Elise kind of likes him and she regrets getting him into this mess, but every time she tries to help him get out, she gets him pulled in deeper.

Suspenseful and exciting, it’s an action flick from start to finish. The scenery is fabulous, first in Paris, then in Venice. The train ride is also gorgeous. This is not a classic and the two leads are pretty good (Depp pulled it off) but he’s playing a silly sad sack loser who’s in way over his head most of the time. Angelina is beautiful as usual, but so very, very thin that it’s distracting. She must have a 12 inch waist. But still, all in all, it’s a pretty fine movie. I loved the setting and the background. I loved the twists and turns as you try to figure out who is up to what. It’s very exciting and the action parts, boat chases through the canals of Venice and the like. I really enjoyed the film, and am willing to overlook the few flaws in it. The best way to get into this is to just relax and enjoy the ride and not spend too much effort trying to figure out what’s going to happen before it does. It’s must more enjoyable to just sit back and take it all in. The hotel in Venice is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen! What a nice way to spend an afternoon.

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