The International

Strange things are afoot when people who dig too deeply into the affairs of The International Bank of Business and Credit (IBBC) end up dying. A foreign law enforcement officer with a questionable history, Louis Salenger, is on the case, and gets caught up in the middle of piecing together the murder of a US law enforcement officer investigating the IBBC after finding someone willing to talk about the IBBC's money laundering schemes for the corrupt, as well as providing arms and other aid to those willing to pay to usurp power by show of force in countries around the world.

I found the first third of this film to be a bit on the plodding side of things, mainly due to the CSI nature of how leads are found that push the plot along (probably my issue from years of watching too many episodes of CSI on TV), and how little we know of the protagonists (Louis, played by Clive Owen, and Ellie, played by Naomi Watts, which doesn't quite give the audience a hook into the film), but the middle section was pretty intense, though the final act sort of peters out. But I did like some of the shots that director Tykwer composed, but the film felt long to me, and if tightened up a bit, it could have been a better film-going experience. I'm still a fan of Tykwer's, though. I don't mind cursing, but the cursing in this film felt "off" to me, it was like, well it's going to be R rated, so let's toss in some curse words.

I give it 2.75 stars, or a grade of B-.