Jolie curls her sexy smile and bats her eyes as Elise, a wanted woman in many more ways than one, pursued by a slew of secret agents as she goes about her merry day in Venice. Her lover, a mysterious international criminal named Alexander Pearce, is the real target. The problem is that nobody knows what he looks like. His face has undergone more plastic surgery than Michael Jackson on a shopping spree, but the top agent(Paul Bettany) knows he won't leave his lady love behind for long. But you don't become a criminal mastermind by walking blindly into Interpol traps(does Interpol ever catch anybody in movies?), so what does he do? He slips her a note while she's enjoying her morning espresso. Her job is to find somebody, anybody who could possibly resemble him and trick the authorities into believing that it actually is. Hey, how are they gonna prove it's not?
Elise's search for just the right guy is perhaps the funniest moment of the film, as she scans through the train for a perfect match. As the guys practically beg her with their eyes to pick them for pretty much anything, Jolie matches their desperate glares with a knowing smile. That is until she spots Frank(Depp), a plain unassuming teacher trying to get over a broken heart. She sizes him up almost immediately. Within moments she's been invited to dinner. Within a few more moments he'll be in her hotel room, where he no doubt thinks he'll become the luckiest guy in the world. That's one hell of a rebound! Why bother asking questions? Just go with it. She's the type of woman men fantasize about but very rarely attain: beautiful, graceful, and more than a little bit dangerous. So when Russian thugs enter the picture looking for money Alexander supposedly stole, Frank is more than willing to get swept up in Elise's mess.
The Tourist is a hard film to classify. Similar to George Clooney's hitman film, The American, it's essentially a European movie showcasing a pair of American actors. Jolie fits in like a glove, and though I've been critical of her talents in the past it is clear she has all the ingredients necessary to absolutely take over any film she's in. There's no need for all the extras to be instructed to turn their heads and stare at her in awe as she enters the room, she lights up every scene any way so that the reaction is automatic. Yet I didn't feel the same way about Depp, an actor I like but have never seen as elite. He's good enough here, but the chemistry between he and Jolie is absolute zero. That works for awhile because Frank and Elise are perfect strangers, but there comes a point where the game has been revealed, and for me at least I wanted someone who was Jolie's equal to stand opposite her.
German director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck picked an odd film to follow-up 2007's The Lives of Others
. His ability to craft such meticulous, intense drama isn't necessary for this movie. The Tourist is strictly lighter fare, glitzy and extravagant. It's never meant to be taken seriously. There's no real danger. It's meant to be fun and indulgent, like an extra slice of cheesecake. 
