Benjamin Mercer tells us why 'The Tourist' deserves another look:
The Tourist is, at its core, a movie about the nature of seeing and being seen...
Have to agree. It has an alluring visual quality. Beautifully shot. Nothing in direct sunlight. Very even contrast. Carefully controlled, narrow dynamic range. Muted yet lush color. And, the actors -- they always have that 'I'm-in-a-movie-and-I-couldn't-be-more-attractive' look.
Mercer continues on the subject, especially concerning Angelina Jolie:
...Jolie is objectified to an almost absurd degree, constantly watched by (exclusively male) surveillance experts. At one point the mere sight of her prompts Frank to inadvertently blurt out the PG-13 film's token "fuck," and Elise renders speechless nearly every man she encounters, as if even these thunderstruck waiters and bellhops inside the movie are unable to process her as anything other than a fantasy, a glamorous apparition, a totally bewitching flicker of light. The audience is, of course, also implicated in all this looking.
Yes. And why not? I plan on seeing the film. (Yes, I'm among the majority that did not catch it at the theater). I'll predict 'The Tourist' will do very well as a rental and on TV/Cable.
We need lush, purely visual fantasies that don't rock the boat too much when it comes to story or depth of character. From time to time. We need that.
'The Tourist' will be on a lot of people's guilty pleasure list.
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