The International

Released: 2009
MPAA rating: R
Run time: 1:58

"The IBBC is a bank. Their objective isn't to control the conflict, it's to control the debt that the conflict produces. You see, the real value of a conflict, the true value, is in the debt that it creates. You control the debt, you control everything. You find this upsetting, yes? But this is the very essence of the banking industry, to make us all, whether we be nations or individuals, slaves to debt."

The above quote from one of the characters in the film made this movie almost a little too realistic for me! The general plot involves an international bank which will stop at nothing to get its profitable agenda done. Clive Owen plays Louis Salinger, an Interpol agent who is working on an arms dealing case, which he finds involves the IBBC, a major international bank. As he looks deeper into it, with the help of NY ADA Eleanor Whitman (Naomi Watts), he finds the bank is much more than a bank, it is a group of financiers manipulating world events to generate large profits. While the conspiracy element of the plot is a little far-fetched, the ruthlessness and inhumanity of the banking system is all too real. The movie itself is entertaining with solid performances and decent writing. Some of the plot points were taken wholly from previous films. The most glaring one was when the bank is having trouble making a deal with a family-owned technology company, they decide to take out the father, since the sons seem more amenable to the deal. This is pretty much exactly the same in "The Godfather", although that may have been intentional to compare the bank to an organized crime family. There were some action set pieces, the best of which was a shoot-out in the Guggenheim Museum. The only problem with that scene was that it went on far too long before even a single police car arrived at the scene. This is a pretty decent thriller that is eerily reminiscent of the way the banking industry is behaving in today's headlines!

Grade: B


Trailer: