By all means find and watch The Interpreter, with Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman.
In this movie, both actors have apparently grown into both their looks and their acting styles in the roles they have here -- or are allowed to do so by the film itself -- and their roles are intelligent, complex, and fulfilled by the actor both physically and as one creating a role and 'selling' the lines -- convincing us not only that they are that character, and that it is inevitable that that character would say that, in just that way, at that time, but that what they are saying is important enough for us to be listening to and watching, even if the words being used seem trivial at the moment and the situation seems slight at first glance.
The story and the situation are top notch. It's a thriller that's not treated as a thriller, in the sense of lots of killing and bloodshed -- it's like the Inside Man in that respect. Director Sydney Pollack, in his commentary, likens the structure of the film to that of an opera, in which occasionally the lead characters sing arias about their feelings or situations. In this film, both Kidman and Penn have acting 'arias,' in which they have several pages of dialogue or even of monologue, as part of the ongoing thriller action, not as asides or commentaries to the viewer... and they bring them off!
There is a depth of emotion conveyed by Sean Penn that I have almost never seen on the screen -- and yet he does it without overdoing or overreaching or becoming corny in any way. He's got great material to work with, and a superb actor in Kidman to play off (and many other very fine actors in the film) -- but he still has to do it for us, and he does... astounding.
I've always admired Sydney Pollack's work, and this is a film (from an original film script someone gave to him) that has been worked on by Pollack and the writers so that the original 'spine' of the story is in place, and the film has been presented and acted to a fare-thee-well. There isn't a dull, slow, or wasted moment, plenty of suspense, and yet there is little of the traditional thriller about it.
The characters played by Kidman and Penn are very different people in every way, yet each is intelligent and recognizes the intelligence of the other, even though at first they don't really like or trust each other (why should they?). Penn's character, from the Secret Service, is one who is used to being in charge, and he finds himself baffled in unusual ways (obviously not those of physical force) by Kidman's UN interpreter, who is not American, does not have the reactions he expects, and is smarter (and in particular, way more articulate) than the average suspect... He has been worn down by having people all around him over the years who are not as smart as he is, or possibly not as quick, even if they get there after a while and function quite competently. He gets his blunted edges honed sharply when he meets Kidman's character. Watching how his character changes and develops by the events in the film and by Kidman's character is one of the particular pleasures of the film.
In this film, I warmed to both Kidman and Penn, something I haven't done in the past, despite my deep respect for Sean Penn's ability; I haven't watched Kidman at work much before this. I think they were fortunate to be able to work with this script and this director, who saw and used their talents in a way that apparently others haven't.
Watch all the little featurettes that are on the disc, which are much better than the usual run of such extras.
5:38:52 PM 
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