The Tourist (2010 film)
Encyclopedia
The Tourist is a 2010 romantic thriller
film directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
, starring Angelina Jolie
and Johnny Depp
. It is a remake of the 2005 French action film Anthony Zimmer
.
GK Films financed and produced this film, and Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions released this film in most countries through Columbia Pictures
. The $100 million-budgeted The Tourist only grossed $68 million in North America theatrically, but this film performed much better in other countries and went on to gross $278 million worldwide.
Despite the negative reception from the critics, the film was nominated for three Golden Globes, with a debate arising over the question as to whether it was a comedy or a drama. Henckel von Donnersmarck repeatedly stated it was neither genre, calling it "a travel romance with thriller elements", but that if he had to choose between the two, he would choose comedy.
) being followed by French Police
, working with Scotland Yard
under the direction of Inspector John Acheson (Paul Bettany
). Acheson has spent years hunting Elise's old lover, Alexander Pearce, who owes £744 million in back taxes and is believed to have received 20 million dollars worth of plastic surgery
to alter his appearance completely. At a cafe, Elise receives written instructions from Pearce: board a train to Venice, pick out a man who resembles Pearce, and make the police believe that this decoy is Pearce himself. Elise burns the note, then manages to evade the police and board the train. On the train, Elise picks Frank (Johnny Depp
), an American high school teacher. She spends much time with him, seeming to start a romance. In the meanwhile, the police have managed to salvage the ashes of her burned note and assembled them to extract information regarding her rendezvous as well as her ruse. But an informer from the police station mistakenly communicates to Reginald Shaw (Steven Berkoff
), a gangster from whom Pearce as accountant stole $2.3 billion, that Pearce is travelling with Elise on the train to Venice. Shaw immediately proceeds to Venice.
Elise invites Frank to stay with her at the hotel room that has been arranged for her in Venice. Pearce leaves further instructions for Elise to attend a ball. Elise abandons Frank, who is then chased by Shaw's men. While trying to escape from them, Frank is detained by the Italian police ostensibly for his own safety, only to have a corrupt inspector turn him over to Shaw's men in exchange for the bounty that has been placed on Pearce's head. Elise rescues Frank just before he is handed over, leading Shaw's men on an extended boat chase and escaping. She leaves Frank at the airport with his passport and money, urging him to go home for his own safety.
Elise is revealed to be a Scotland Yard undercover agent who may have become Pearce's ally. Because of her fears for Frank, she agrees to participate in a sting operation. At the ball, as Elise wanders around trying to spot Pearce in the crowd, an envelope is placed on the table in front of her by a man who then quickly disappears into the crowd. Elise sees that the envelope is for her, and believes that the man must be Pearce himself. She tries to follow him through the crowd, calling out his name, but is stopped by Frank who has managed to enter inside under a pretext.
Frank claims to be in love with her, and invites her to dance with him. But he is hauled away by the police, while Elise opens the envelope and finds a note mentioning a rendezvous point. She then heads off in her boat to this new rendezvous point. Shaw and his men tail her in their boat; both parties are followed discreetly by the police boat in which Frank is held handcuffed to stop him from obstructing the investigation.
When Elise arrives at the destination, Shaw takes her prisoner, threatening to harm her unless she reveals the location of the stolen money. The police monitor the situation inside the rendezvous room through audio and video links. Despite Elise's peril, Inspector Acheson repeatedly turns down police requests to intervene with their snipers. While the police are occupied in monitoring the situation, Frank escapes from the police boat and confronts Shaw, claiming to be Pearce who has undergone plastic surgery and offering to open the safe if Elise is allowed to leave safely. Shaw is skeptical and makes a counter offer that Frank should open the safe if he does not want to see Elise being cut up. Chief Inspector Jones (Timothy Dalton
) arrives at the police stake-out, overrides Acheson, and orders the police snipers to fire into the room, killing Shaw and his men. Jones lifts Elise's suspension and also terminates her employment.
Acheson receives a radio message that Pearce has been found not far from the rendezvous point, and rushes to the location where police have detained the suspect. But the man claims to be just a tourist who has merely been following instructions texted to his mobile phone, to be present at certain locations, for which he has been receiving payments. Meanwhile, Elise tells Frank that she loves him, but she also loves Pearce. Frank then suggests a "solution" to this dilemma; to Elise's surprise, he opens the safe by entering the correct code, thus revealing that he is really Alexander Pearce. He and Elise then take the money and depart, leaving a cheque in the safe for the full amount of the taxes he owes. The police find the cheque when they return and blow the safe open. Acheson now realizes that Frank has indeed been Pearce all along, and wants to pursue him; but Jones determines that, with the taxes now paid fully, Pearce's only crime is that he stole money from a now-dead gangster. Jones orders the case to be closed. Frank and Elise sail away to a new life together, with Elise taking in and getting used to the new and completely altered face of her old lover.
, with Charlize Theron
playing the lead. But Hallström left, allegedly over scheduling conflicts. Bharat Nalluri
then came on, as did Tom Cruise
, who was later replaced by Sam Worthington
. When Jolie accepted her role, so did filmmaker Henckel von Donnersmarck; but he left citing "creative differences" along with Worthington. After many names were mooted, including Alfonso Cuarón
, Henckel von Donnersmarck returned, re-wrote the script in two weeks, and shot the film in 58 days (including 2nd unit days), with Johnny Depp
taking the lead.
Henckel von Donnersmarck was assisted by stunt coordinator Simon Crane
who devised the boat action sequence. In the DVD director's commentary, Henckel von Donnersmarck recounts that the film's one action sequence was devised by Simon Crane to allow for the speed limitations imposed on boats in Venice. This speed limit was strictly enforced by the Venetian authorities and there was a policeman on set at all times to make sure no wave movement would let the pillars (on which the palazzi are built) be exposed to oxygen. Henckel von Donnersmarck and Crane felt that if one boat was towing the other, this could perhaps be a realistic reason for a slow speed chase.
The whole film was made in only a little over 11 months, counting from the day Henckel von Donnersmarck came on board to re-write and direct to the day of the movie premiere in New York. The reason the film had to be shot so quickly was that Johnny Depp had to leave for Hawaii to start filming the fourth film of the Pirates of the Caribbean
franchise. The reason post-production had to happen so quickly was because all commercially interesting release dates in 2011 were reserved for the potential start of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
.
Filming began in Paris
with Jolie on February 23, 2010 and moved to Venice
, where Depp joined the production, on March 1.
based on 158 reviews. Its critical consensus states: "The scenery and the stars are undeniably beautiful, but they can't make up for The Tourists slow, muddled plot, or the lack of chemistry between Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie."
Roger Ebert
gave the film 2 out of 4 stars. Brandon Fibbs gave the film 2 and a half out of 4 stars, writing that "Henckel von Donnersmarck is allowed to have both a serious and a frothy side, but there is the feeling that he has not quite earned the liberty yet; that he needs a few more mature films under his belt before he can earn the right to say, “Time to do something fun and forgettable.”" Peter Travers
of Rolling Stone
gave the film 0 out of 4 stars, writing that "(in) a year of craptaculars, The Tourist deserves burial at the bottom of the 2010 dung heap". Travers would later place the film first on his list of the 10 worst movies of 2010, writing, "Depp and Angelina Jolie hit career lows, producing the chemistry of high-fashion zombies. The worst of the year, by a mile. Casey Burchby of DVD Talk
acknowledged that the movie was "beautifully shot by the accomplished Oscar-winner John Seale
," but that the "hastily-prepared film does not care one iota about its characters."
Positive English-language reviews include the Daily Mail
, which gave it 5 out of 5 stars, calling the film "a glossy, sophisticated, gloriously improbable romp — escapist fun for these austere times".
The Tourist ended up on Rotten Tomatoes Top Critic Stephanie Zacharek's "10 Best Movies of 2010". Zacharek, in her review called The Tourist "a visually sensuous picture made with tender attention to detail and an elegant, understated sense of humor".
: Best Musical or Comedy, Depp for Actor Musical or Comedy and Jolie for Actress Musical or Comedy. The fact that a film originally promoted as romantic thriller
was nominated for the comedy or musical category garnered the film and the Golden Globes considerable mockery; when the Hollywood Foreign Press Association
(HFPA) made the official announcement of nominees, the press room erupted with laughter. It was later revealed that the film was originally submitted by the studio as a drama, but Henckel von Donnersmarck then told the HFPA that the film should be categorized as a comedy. HFPA President Phil Berk noted that "Given the differing opinions, we asked the studio to screen the film for us in advance, and collectively, we decided that the elements of preposterous fun lent the film more to a comedy than a straight drama category." Mark Kermode
made a rant in his Radio 5 podcast about the HFPA's choices of nominating The Tourist, Red
and Alice in Wonderland
, more specifically how he thought those 3 cost Four Lions
, Made in Dagenham
and Jackass 3D
deserved nominations.
. The film grossed only $67,631,157 domestically, but did better around the world with $210,715,032 internationally for a total of $278,346,189 worldwide.
Romantic thriller
Romantic thriller is a genre of film which has a storyline combining elements of the romance film and the thriller. Some examples of romantic thriller films are:* The Tamarind Seed * Diva * Romancing the Stone...
film directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Florian Maria Georg Christian, Graf Henckel von Donnersmarck is a German film director, best known for writing and directing the 2007 Oscar-winning film The Lives of Others and the 2010 film The Tourist.-Personal life and family:...
, starring Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie is an American actress. She has received an Academy Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards, and was named Hollywood's highest-paid actress by Forbes in 2009 and 2011. Jolie is noted for promoting humanitarian causes as a Goodwill Ambassador for the...
and Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
. It is a remake of the 2005 French action film Anthony Zimmer
Anthony Zimmer
Anthony Zimmer is a 2005 French romantic thriller film directed by Jérôme Salle starring Sophie Marceau and Yvan Attal. The film spawned an American-produced remake in 2010 titled The Tourist.-Plot:...
.
GK Films financed and produced this film, and Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions released this film in most countries through Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
. The $100 million-budgeted The Tourist only grossed $68 million in North America theatrically, but this film performed much better in other countries and went on to gross $278 million worldwide.
Despite the negative reception from the critics, the film was nominated for three Golden Globes, with a debate arising over the question as to whether it was a comedy or a drama. Henckel von Donnersmarck repeatedly stated it was neither genre, calling it "a travel romance with thriller elements", but that if he had to choose between the two, he would choose comedy.
Plot
The movie opens with Elise (Angelina JolieAngelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie is an American actress. She has received an Academy Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards, and was named Hollywood's highest-paid actress by Forbes in 2009 and 2011. Jolie is noted for promoting humanitarian causes as a Goodwill Ambassador for the...
) being followed by French Police
Law enforcement in France
Law enforcement in France is conducted at the national and municipal level, and is the responsibility of a variety of law enforcement agencies. Three agencies operate at the national level, and at the local level each commune is able to maintain their own municipal police...
, working with Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
under the direction of Inspector John Acheson (Paul Bettany
Paul Bettany
Paul Bettany is an English actor. He has appeared in a wide variety of films, including A Knight's Tale, A Beautiful Mind, and The Da Vinci Code...
). Acheson has spent years hunting Elise's old lover, Alexander Pearce, who owes £744 million in back taxes and is believed to have received 20 million dollars worth of plastic surgery
Plastic surgery
Plastic surgery is a medical specialty concerned with the correction or restoration of form and function. Though cosmetic or aesthetic surgery is the best-known kind of plastic surgery, most plastic surgery is not cosmetic: plastic surgery includes many types of reconstructive surgery, hand...
to alter his appearance completely. At a cafe, Elise receives written instructions from Pearce: board a train to Venice, pick out a man who resembles Pearce, and make the police believe that this decoy is Pearce himself. Elise burns the note, then manages to evade the police and board the train. On the train, Elise picks Frank (Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
), an American high school teacher. She spends much time with him, seeming to start a romance. In the meanwhile, the police have managed to salvage the ashes of her burned note and assembled them to extract information regarding her rendezvous as well as her ruse. But an informer from the police station mistakenly communicates to Reginald Shaw (Steven Berkoff
Steven Berkoff
Steven Berkoff is an English actor, writer and director. Best known for his performance as General Orlov in the James Bond film Octopussy, he is typically cast in villanous roles, such as Lt...
), a gangster from whom Pearce as accountant stole $2.3 billion, that Pearce is travelling with Elise on the train to Venice. Shaw immediately proceeds to Venice.
Elise invites Frank to stay with her at the hotel room that has been arranged for her in Venice. Pearce leaves further instructions for Elise to attend a ball. Elise abandons Frank, who is then chased by Shaw's men. While trying to escape from them, Frank is detained by the Italian police ostensibly for his own safety, only to have a corrupt inspector turn him over to Shaw's men in exchange for the bounty that has been placed on Pearce's head. Elise rescues Frank just before he is handed over, leading Shaw's men on an extended boat chase and escaping. She leaves Frank at the airport with his passport and money, urging him to go home for his own safety.
Elise is revealed to be a Scotland Yard undercover agent who may have become Pearce's ally. Because of her fears for Frank, she agrees to participate in a sting operation. At the ball, as Elise wanders around trying to spot Pearce in the crowd, an envelope is placed on the table in front of her by a man who then quickly disappears into the crowd. Elise sees that the envelope is for her, and believes that the man must be Pearce himself. She tries to follow him through the crowd, calling out his name, but is stopped by Frank who has managed to enter inside under a pretext.
Frank claims to be in love with her, and invites her to dance with him. But he is hauled away by the police, while Elise opens the envelope and finds a note mentioning a rendezvous point. She then heads off in her boat to this new rendezvous point. Shaw and his men tail her in their boat; both parties are followed discreetly by the police boat in which Frank is held handcuffed to stop him from obstructing the investigation.
When Elise arrives at the destination, Shaw takes her prisoner, threatening to harm her unless she reveals the location of the stolen money. The police monitor the situation inside the rendezvous room through audio and video links. Despite Elise's peril, Inspector Acheson repeatedly turns down police requests to intervene with their snipers. While the police are occupied in monitoring the situation, Frank escapes from the police boat and confronts Shaw, claiming to be Pearce who has undergone plastic surgery and offering to open the safe if Elise is allowed to leave safely. Shaw is skeptical and makes a counter offer that Frank should open the safe if he does not want to see Elise being cut up. Chief Inspector Jones (Timothy Dalton
Timothy Dalton
Timothy Peter Dalton ) is a Welsh actor of film and television. He is known for portraying James Bond in The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill , as well as Rhett Butler in the television miniseries Scarlett , an original sequel to Gone with the Wind...
) arrives at the police stake-out, overrides Acheson, and orders the police snipers to fire into the room, killing Shaw and his men. Jones lifts Elise's suspension and also terminates her employment.
Acheson receives a radio message that Pearce has been found not far from the rendezvous point, and rushes to the location where police have detained the suspect. But the man claims to be just a tourist who has merely been following instructions texted to his mobile phone, to be present at certain locations, for which he has been receiving payments. Meanwhile, Elise tells Frank that she loves him, but she also loves Pearce. Frank then suggests a "solution" to this dilemma; to Elise's surprise, he opens the safe by entering the correct code, thus revealing that he is really Alexander Pearce. He and Elise then take the money and depart, leaving a cheque in the safe for the full amount of the taxes he owes. The police find the cheque when they return and blow the safe open. Acheson now realizes that Frank has indeed been Pearce all along, and wants to pursue him; but Jones determines that, with the taxes now paid fully, Pearce's only crime is that he stole money from a now-dead gangster. Jones orders the case to be closed. Frank and Elise sail away to a new life together, with Elise taking in and getting used to the new and completely altered face of her old lover.
Cast
- Angelina JolieAngelina JolieAngelina Jolie is an American actress. She has received an Academy Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards, and was named Hollywood's highest-paid actress by Forbes in 2009 and 2011. Jolie is noted for promoting humanitarian causes as a Goodwill Ambassador for the...
as Elise Clifton-Ward - Johnny DeppJohnny DeppJohn Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
as Frank Tupelo / Alexander Pearce - Paul BettanyPaul BettanyPaul Bettany is an English actor. He has appeared in a wide variety of films, including A Knight's Tale, A Beautiful Mind, and The Da Vinci Code...
as Inspector John Acheson - Timothy DaltonTimothy DaltonTimothy Peter Dalton ) is a Welsh actor of film and television. He is known for portraying James Bond in The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill , as well as Rhett Butler in the television miniseries Scarlett , an original sequel to Gone with the Wind...
as Chief Inspector Jones - Steven BerkoffSteven BerkoffSteven Berkoff is an English actor, writer and director. Best known for his performance as General Orlov in the James Bond film Octopussy, he is typically cast in villanous roles, such as Lt...
as Reginald Shaw - Rufus SewellRufus SewellRufus Frederik Sewell is an English actor. In film, he has appeared in The Woodlanders, Dangerous Beauty, Dark City, A Knight's Tale, The Illusionist, Tristan and Isolde, and Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence. On television, he starred in the 2010 mini-series The Pillars of the Earth...
as The Englishman - Christian De SicaChristian De SicaChristian De Sica is an Italian actor, director and scriptwriter.- Life :De Sica was born in Rome, Italy, the second son of Italian director Vittorio De Sica and Spanish actress María Mercader. After attending liceo classico in Rome, he worked in a hotel in Venezuela, where he began his career as...
as Colonnello Lombardi - Alessio BoniAlessio BoniAlessio Boni is an Italian actor.Boni was born in Sarnico. In 1992, Boni finished his theatre studies at the Accademia Nazionale d'Arte Drammatica. The second of three, Marco is the eldest and Andrea is the youngest brother...
as Sergente Cerato - Daniele Pecci as Tenente Narduzzi
- Giovanni Guidelli as Tenente Tommassini
- Raoul BovaRaoul BovaRaoul Bova is an Italian actor.Bova was born in Rome to Calabrian parents. At the age of 16 he became a local champion in the 100 meter backstroke. At the age of 21 he joined the Italian Army and performed his military duty in the Bersaglieri corps...
as Conte Filippo Gaggia - Igor JijikineIgor JijikineIgor Jijikine is a Russian actor working in Los Angeles and Moscow.Over the recent years, Igor has worked with such directors as Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood and J. J. Abrams and has appeared in numerous commercial spots for major brands.Igor is also an accomplished sportsman and stage performer...
as Virginsky - Bruno Wolkowitch as Capitaine Courson
- Marc Ruchmann as Brigadier Kaiser
- Julien Baumgartner as Brigadier Ricuort
- François Vincentelli as Brigadier Marion
- Shashidhar as Shz
- Nino FrassicaNino FrassicaAntonio "Nino" Frassica is an Italian actor.Born in Messina, he debuted for Italian television with Renzo Arbore's Quelli della notte , in which he played a semi-illiterate friar...
as Maresciallo Cecchini - Neri Marcorè as the receiver of the hall
Production
The project went through a number of directorial and cast changes. Originally, the film was set with Lasse HallströmLasse Hallström
Lars Sven "Lasse" Hallström is a Swedish film director. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director for My Life as a Dog and later for The Cider House Rules .-Life and career:...
, with Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron is a South African actress, film producer and former fashion model.She rose to fame in the late 1990s following her roles in 2 Days in the Valley, Mighty Joe Young, The Devil's Advocate and The Cider House Rules...
playing the lead. But Hallström left, allegedly over scheduling conflicts. Bharat Nalluri
Bharat Nalluri
Bharat Nalluri is a British television director, best known for his work with the independent production company Kudos Film & Television in the 2000s and early 2010s. For Kudos, he has directed episodes of Spooks, Life on Mars, Hustle , and Outcasts: all for transmission on BBC One...
then came on, as did Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
, who was later replaced by Sam Worthington
Sam Worthington
Samuel Henry J. "Sam" Worthington is an English born, Australian actor. After almost a decade of roles in Australian TV shows and films, Worthington gained Hollywood's attention by playing Marcus Wright in Terminator Salvation and the lead role, Jake Sully, in James Cameron's science...
. When Jolie accepted her role, so did filmmaker Henckel von Donnersmarck; but he left citing "creative differences" along with Worthington. After many names were mooted, including Alfonso Cuarón
Alfonso Cuarón
Alfonso Cuarón Orozco is a Mexican film director, screenwriter and film producer, best known for his films Children of Men, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Y tu mamá también, and A Little Princess.- Early life :...
, Henckel von Donnersmarck returned, re-wrote the script in two weeks, and shot the film in 58 days (including 2nd unit days), with Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
taking the lead.
Henckel von Donnersmarck was assisted by stunt coordinator Simon Crane
Simon Crane
Simon Crane is a British stuntman, stunt coordinator, second unit director and film director.-Biography:Born in Twickenham, Middlesex, England. Crane was originally a law student, but not liking it, he dropped out after two years and worked as an acrobat in a circus for three years...
who devised the boat action sequence. In the DVD director's commentary, Henckel von Donnersmarck recounts that the film's one action sequence was devised by Simon Crane to allow for the speed limitations imposed on boats in Venice. This speed limit was strictly enforced by the Venetian authorities and there was a policeman on set at all times to make sure no wave movement would let the pillars (on which the palazzi are built) be exposed to oxygen. Henckel von Donnersmarck and Crane felt that if one boat was towing the other, this could perhaps be a realistic reason for a slow speed chase.
The whole film was made in only a little over 11 months, counting from the day Henckel von Donnersmarck came on board to re-write and direct to the day of the movie premiere in New York. The reason the film had to be shot so quickly was that Johnny Depp had to leave for Hawaii to start filming the fourth film of the Pirates of the Caribbean
Pirates of the Caribbean (film series)
Pirates of the Caribbean is a series of fantasy-adventure films directed by Gore Verbinski and Rob Marshall , written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...
franchise. The reason post-production had to happen so quickly was because all commercially interesting release dates in 2011 were reserved for the potential start of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is a 2011 adventure fantasy film and the fourth installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean series...
.
Filming began in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
with Jolie on February 23, 2010 and moved to Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, where Depp joined the production, on March 1.
In America
The Tourist met with mostly negative reviews, with a 20% approval rating on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
based on 158 reviews. Its critical consensus states: "The scenery and the stars are undeniably beautiful, but they can't make up for The Tourists slow, muddled plot, or the lack of chemistry between Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie."
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
gave the film 2 out of 4 stars. Brandon Fibbs gave the film 2 and a half out of 4 stars, writing that "Henckel von Donnersmarck is allowed to have both a serious and a frothy side, but there is the feeling that he has not quite earned the liberty yet; that he needs a few more mature films under his belt before he can earn the right to say, “Time to do something fun and forgettable.”" Peter Travers
Peter Travers
Peter Travers is an American film critic, who has written for, in turn, People and Rolling Stone. Travers also hosts a celebrity interview show called Popcorn on ABC News Now and ABCNews.com.-Career:...
of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
gave the film 0 out of 4 stars, writing that "(in) a year of craptaculars, The Tourist deserves burial at the bottom of the 2010 dung heap". Travers would later place the film first on his list of the 10 worst movies of 2010, writing, "Depp and Angelina Jolie hit career lows, producing the chemistry of high-fashion zombies. The worst of the year, by a mile. Casey Burchby of DVD Talk
DVD Talk
DVD Talk is a website for DVD enthusiasts founded in January 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman when DVDs and DVD players were first beginning to hit the market.The site started as an online forum, an email newsletter, and a page of DVD news and reviews...
acknowledged that the movie was "beautifully shot by the accomplished Oscar-winner John Seale
John Seale
John Clement Seale, A.S.C., A.C.S. is an Australian cinematographer. He won an Oscar for the 1996 film The English Patient....
," but that the "hastily-prepared film does not care one iota about its characters."
Positive English-language reviews include the Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
, which gave it 5 out of 5 stars, calling the film "a glossy, sophisticated, gloriously improbable romp — escapist fun for these austere times".
The Tourist ended up on Rotten Tomatoes Top Critic Stephanie Zacharek's "10 Best Movies of 2010". Zacharek, in her review called The Tourist "a visually sensuous picture made with tender attention to detail and an elegant, understated sense of humor".
Award nominations
Despite its critical reception, the film was nominated for three Golden Globes68th Golden Globe Awards
The 68th Golden Globe Awards was broadcast live from the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California on January 16, 2011, by NBC. The host was Ricky Gervais....
: Best Musical or Comedy, Depp for Actor Musical or Comedy and Jolie for Actress Musical or Comedy. The fact that a film originally promoted as romantic thriller
Romantic thriller
Romantic thriller is a genre of film which has a storyline combining elements of the romance film and the thriller. Some examples of romantic thriller films are:* The Tamarind Seed * Diva * Romancing the Stone...
was nominated for the comedy or musical category garnered the film and the Golden Globes considerable mockery; when the Hollywood Foreign Press Association
Hollywood Foreign Press Association
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association is an organization composed of working journalists who cover the United States film industry for a variety of outlets, including newspapers and magazines in Europe, Asia, Australia and Latin America. Today, the 90 members of the HFPA represent at least 55...
(HFPA) made the official announcement of nominees, the press room erupted with laughter. It was later revealed that the film was originally submitted by the studio as a drama, but Henckel von Donnersmarck then told the HFPA that the film should be categorized as a comedy. HFPA President Phil Berk noted that "Given the differing opinions, we asked the studio to screen the film for us in advance, and collectively, we decided that the elements of preposterous fun lent the film more to a comedy than a straight drama category." Mark Kermode
Mark Kermode
Mark Kermode is an English film critic, musician and a member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. He contributes to Sight and Sound magazine, The Observer newspaper and BBC Radio 5 Live, where he presents Kermode and Mayo's Film Reviews with Simon Mayo on Friday afternoons...
made a rant in his Radio 5 podcast about the HFPA's choices of nominating The Tourist, Red
Red (2010 film)
RED is a 2010 American action comedy film loosely inspired by the three-issue comic book series of the same name created by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner, and published by the DC Comics imprint Homage...
and Alice in Wonderland
Alice in Wonderland (2010 film)
Alice in Wonderland is a 2010 American computer-animated/live action fantasy adventure film directed by Tim Burton, written by Linda Woolverton, and released by Walt Disney Pictures...
, more specifically how he thought those 3 cost Four Lions
Four Lions
Four Lions is a 2010 British satirical comedy film. It is the debut feature from director Chris Morris, written by Morris, Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong. The film is a jihad satire following a group of homegrown Islamist terrorist jihadis from Sheffield, England.-Plot:A group of young Muslim men...
, Made in Dagenham
Made in Dagenham
Made in Dagenham is a 2010 British film directed by Nigel Cole. The film stars Sally Hawkins, Miranda Richardson, Rosamund Pike and Jaime Winstone. It dramatises the Ford sewing machinists strike of 1968 that aimed for equal pay for women...
and Jackass 3D
Jackass 3D
Jackass 3D is a 2010 American 3D comedy film and the fourth film in the Jackass series. It was released on October 15, 2010 by Paramount Pictures and MTV Films to American theaters and marked the 10th anniversary of the franchise, which started in 2000...
deserved nominations.
| Awards | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ceremony | Award | Category | Name | Outcome |
| Hollywood Foreign Press Association Hollywood Foreign Press Association The Hollywood Foreign Press Association is an organization composed of working journalists who cover the United States film industry for a variety of outlets, including newspapers and magazines in Europe, Asia, Australia and Latin America. Today, the 90 members of the HFPA represent at least 55... |
Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign... |
Best Picture: Musical or Comedy | ||
| Best Actor: Musical or Comedy | Johnny Depp Johnny Depp John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol... |
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| Best Actress: Musical or Comedy | Angelina Jolie Angelina Jolie Angelina Jolie is an American actress. She has received an Academy Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards, and was named Hollywood's highest-paid actress by Forbes in 2009 and 2011. Jolie is noted for promoting humanitarian causes as a Goodwill Ambassador for the... |
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| 2011 Teen Choice Awards 2011 Teen Choice Awards The 2011 Teen Choice Awards hosted by Kaley Cuoco aired live on August 7, 2011 at 8/7c on Fox. This was the first time that the ceremonies were aired live since the 2007 show... |
Teen Choice Awards The Teen Choice Awards, are an annual awards show that air on the Fox cable channel, that honor the year's biggest biggest achievements in music, movies, sports, television, fashion and more, voted by teen viewers aged 14 through 17. Winners receive an authentic full size surfboard designed with... |
Choice Movie: Action | ||
| Choice Movie: Actor Action | Johnny Depp Johnny Depp John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol... |
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| Choice Movie: Actress Action | Angelina Jolie Angelina Jolie Angelina Jolie is an American actress. She has received an Academy Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards, and was named Hollywood's highest-paid actress by Forbes in 2009 and 2011. Jolie is noted for promoting humanitarian causes as a Goodwill Ambassador for the... |
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Box office performance
The Tourist opened with $16,472,458 on its first weekend at the #2 spot behind The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn TreaderThe Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a 2010 3D fantasy-adventure film based on The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the third novel in C. S. Lewis's epic fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia . It is the third installment in The Chronicles of Narnia film series from Walden Media...
. The film grossed only $67,631,157 domestically, but did better around the world with $210,715,032 internationally for a total of $278,346,189 worldwide.