The Tourist

I loved this movie! I really like Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp, but they do a wide range of movies. You never know quite what you are going to get, except for good acting. But in this case, it was good acting with almost nothing objectionable, and I simply loved it.

In The Tourist, Angelina Jolie is Elise Ward, the lover of criminal mastermind Alexander Pierce. He sends her a letter, telling her to pick a guy at random from a certain train and make everyone watching believe it is him. Meanwhile, British Interpol agents and another crime lord are looking everywhere for Pierce and following Elise, in the hope of tracking him down. Elise chooses a tourist (Johnny Depp), an American math teacher who is awkward and shy but obviously charmed by Elise. But when Frank, the tourist, begins to fall in love with her and is drawn deeper into danger, she must maneuver to find her lost love Alexander while saving the life of the man she is beginning to care for.

This movie had me laughing out loud. Angelina Jolie is beautiful and captivating as always, but Johnny Depp is really good. He plays a character completely foreign to his various roles. I was amazed that he could act so...well, normal. And it was hilarious, to boot. Frank is always trying to speak in Spanish to the locals of Venice, where most of the movie takes place. He's always getting himself into scrapes that are way over his head, and he's falling in love with a woman who is far out of his reach. But it's not embarrassing. It's adorable.

Despite expecting a good movie, I was thoroughly surprised and delighted by this one. If you are picky morally, and I usually am, this movie is rated PG-13. Jolie does remove some of her clothes, only for the purpose of getting changed. There's no sex, and Jolie is still modestly attired, even in her underwear. I believe I told my husband it looked like granny lingerie. I don't mean to be offensive to grannies out there, but you know what I mean. There's also smoking, and some people end up dead in the end. For once, I'm entirely okay with the PG-13 rating. Usually, I think movies should be rated higher than they are, like R for sex.

Having given the moral spiel, I can now return to gushing about what a beautiful, romantic, funny, suspenseful semi-action flick this is. I give it five stars, and trust me, I usually don't go above four. Definitely one to see, maybe even own.