The Tourist | Johnny Depp | Angelina Jolie | Netflix

The Tourist on Netflix is one ‘big brand’ movie where you possibly cannot ask for a better setup. With a cast like Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie, with Oscar winning Director Florian Henckel Donnersmarck, an outrageous plot and an aesthetic backdrop of Paris and Venice, The Tourist actually could have been a mind-blowing blockbuster that you could keep going back to but sadly, has turned out to be a fun one time watch.

Let me repeat and discuss that the plot of The Tourist is outrageously brilliant. An unsuspecting math teacher from Wisconsin gets entangled in someone else’s problems simply because a gorgeous woman, pretty much the definition of sexiness, spots him on a train and checks him into one of the most luxurious hotels in Venice for no apparent reason. Well, she has her elaborate reasons but Frank, the teacher from America who’s currently a tourist, knows nothing of it. Naturally, he gets romantically interested in her and is suddenly gallivanting around in pajamas on rooftops and canals of Venice, escaping the Scotland Yard and Russian assassins. Full marks for the plot.

There are a few parts, however, where you can pin point why the plot was executed in lacklustre ways. The attacks, police trails and escapades are not convincing and Angelina Jolie’s character development has been insufficient. She’s incredibly sexy and alluring alright; but her skills apparently include picking a lock and running a motorboat. Of course, there is the fact that she can carry herself like a queen in soaring high heels and dark eye makeup and can execute an adventure fleeing the police and gangsters alike, without one strand of hair sticking out of place. She’s clearly made for glamorous roles of this sort and it shows. With Johnny Depp however, it’s strange to see him playing a simple role with no heavy makeup or headgear, one he usually picks that demands extreme skills on his end. He seems a little too much at ease, as though he knows he’s meant to do better and this he could pull off in his sleep.

The Tourist, no matter what, is a visual treat and is definitely a fun watch as long as it lasts. There’s a grand ball at the end to make sure the movie is climactic, considering all the traditional elements that we see all through including the police chase and the Russian gangster chase. One of the reviews claims that movies like this are made purely for stargazing, and that’s what it feels like. It’s luxurious, has brilliant writing and a great deal of talent onscreen; and yet has a lazy and unambitious undertone. Nonetheless, the levels they operate at is a fun takeaway from The Tourist. And it’s a little tour of Venice for the ones that love locations.