"The International" (2009) | Why Does Nobody Talk About This Clive Owen Thriller?

The International (2009)

Barkage Dog revisits The International, a thriller he expected to be a routine action movie but found to be a stylish, grown-up mystery.

Interpol agent Louis Salinger investigates a powerful criminal bank after his partner and a potential informant are killed. Working with New York DA Eleanor Whitman, he follows the trail across borders, seeking evidence while the bank’s people eliminate anyone who might expose them.

Performances and Premise

The review highlights Clive Owen’s intense performance as Salinger and Naomi Watts as a grounded partner in the investigation. Brian F. O’Byrne also stands out as the bank’s chillingly ordinary-looking hired assassin.

The film’s premise, the reviewer notes, was inspired by a real international bank that handled money for everyone from criminal organizations to governments and intelligence agencies. In the reviewer’s wry telling, no one went to jail after the bank was brought down.

Guggenheim Shootout

The movie’s signature set piece is a spectacular shootout in the Guggenheim Museum. Instead of relying on a digital backdrop, the filmmakers recreated the museum’s central interior in a warehouse, using its blueprints and even matching the floor’s texture.

The reviewer praises the result, along with the film’s striking architecture and photography, for making the movie unusually immersive.

Verdict

Barkage Dog calls it a slow burn that rewards patience, with strong performances, gorgeous visuals, and no sour notes in the writing or acting. He gives it three paws up.

Personalities Featured

• Barkage Dog — the reviewer
• Louis Salinger — Clive Owen
• Eleanor Whitman — Naomi Watts
• The hired assassin — Brian F. O’Byrne
• Bankers — including characters played by Armin Mueller-Stahl