The Tourist - Blu-Ray

Film: After winning the Oscar for his debut The Lives of Others, all doors were open for Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck in Hollywood as well. And so, with his second directorial effort, he immediately presents an entertaining romantic adventure with two of the biggest stars Hollywood currently has to offer: Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie.

The remake of the French thriller Vanishing Point Nice (Anthony Zimmer) tells the story of American math teacher Frank (Johnny Depp), who actually travels to Venice to overcome the loss of a great love. But even before he arrives in the romantic city, a very big adventure begins for the unassuming tourist. He is approached by the attractive Elise (Angelina Jolie) on the train, unaware that this chance encounter is part of an elaborate plan to make the police and other pursuers believe that Frank is an internationally wanted criminal. And indeed, the plan seems to be working, as bullets soon start flying around the teacher's ears. But even if Elise has pulled him into this murderous adventure, it is soon clear to Frank that he does not want to leave it again without her...

The production of The Tourist was not really under a good star. Tom Cruise was initially scheduled to play the lead role, but was replaced by Avatar star Sam Worthington. The latter, however, reportedly didn't really get along with director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, who in turn had replaced British filmmaker Bharat Nalluri, who had been hired to replace Lasse Hallström as director. And Angelina Jolie's role was also originally supposed to be played by Charlize Theron. All the back and forth behind the scenes is not really noticeable in the film. But you can sense that this commissioned work wasn't really a passion project for any of the people involved.

That's not to say that The Tourist doesn't have a high entertainment value. Granted, the viewer isn't particularly challenged here, most especially on an intellectual level. But at times it's quite enjoyable to simply be sprinkled with beautiful imagery, well-staged action, tingling romance, and well-dosed humor. Many may have expected higher standards from the director for his second film and more character depth from the two superstars. And yes, in that regard, The Tourist disappoints. But as a simple pleasure, peppered with an homage or two (to Over the Roofs of Nice, for example), the film works very well.

Although Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck can't live up to the high expectations placed on him after his Oscar win here, he at least shows that he can at least do other material solidly. At the beginning of the film, which starts in the spirit of The Lives of Others with a surveillance sequence, the director builds a kind of bridge to his debut, only to go in a completely different direction. He knows how to put his two stars in the right light, which in the case of Angelina Jolie seems to be a bit too much limited to her beguiling hip swing. But even with the commitment scaled down considerably, both Jolie and Depp offer performances that are thoroughly enjoyable to watch.

So, on balance, The Tourist is light, entertaining fare, with plenty of beautiful images of Venice and the two leads, that while it can't hold a candle to the French original with Sophie Marceau, nor convince as a follow-up to The Lives of Others, it does offer the viewer over 90 minutes of light, carefree entertainment. And that's exactly what, presented in such a way, can be fun. Because as Johannes Mario Simmel said so well: it does not always have to be caviar.

Picture + Sound: The very clean picture immerses the action in picturesque Venice in warm colors. The sharpness level is convincing even with smaller details and the contrasts are also on a high level. The sound can score points in the action sequences with good surround effects, but also the quieter moments can please due to the good tuning of dialogue, music and ambient sounds. And so, even if no top values are achieved, there is a satisfied: very good!

Extras: Let's go in the bonus section with an English-language, optionally subtitled German audio commentary by director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, who among other things.Among other things, he talks about why he wanted Timothy Dalton in his film or what little details he worked into the action that viewers might not immediately notice. A somewhat dry, but not uninteresting commentary.

Furthermore, the disc has five short documentaries to offer, which include features on the canals of Venice, the stunts, and the filming in the romantic city, in addition to a nearly 9-minute standard making of. In addition, there is a little more than a minute of outtakes, which have a really good laugh to offer, a ten-minute German-language interview with the director and four trailers from the program of the provider.

Conclusion: The Tourist is light entertainment cinema, which thanks to the wonderful scenery and the two main actors can convince despite minor weaknesses. The Blu-Ray presents the film technically on a very good level, the bonus material is not uninteresting, but overall somewhat superficial. Nevertheless: who just wants to be well entertained, which should come here at his expense. Recommendable

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp