The Tourist

The Tourist
Directed by: Florian Heckel von Donnersmark (no, seriously. Look it up.)
Cast: Johnny Depp as Frank Tupelo
Angelina Jolie as Elise Clifton-Ward
Paul Bettany as Inspector John Acheson
Timothy Dalton as Chief Inspector Jones
Rated: PG-13

*The following may contain spoilers*

Overview
"It all started when he met a woman..."
Frank Tupelo is an American tourist, exploring the beauty of Italy. As Frank zips through the countryside, a beautiful woman on the train sits down next to him. She introduces herself as Elise and the two talk the rest of the trip and Elise invites him to her hotel room. A stunned Frank accepts her offer, unaware of the chaos that is about to ensue....

Positive Attributes
Frank cares deeply for Elise, and she appears to care for him as well. Both risk their lives to save the other. Elise even tries to ditch Frank so that he will stay safe.

Negative Attributes
Elise's love interest, a mysterious man named Alexander Pearce, is a thief who stole $224 million euros from the British government, using Elise and Frank in his plot to avoid the government.
*SPOILER* Elise is an officer in the British government who went rogue for a year after getting close to Frank. Due to her mixed emotions, she makes some rather unethical decisions throughout the film. In the end, her government uses her as bait to lure Pearce, even to the point of threatening her life.
Elise and Frank kiss passionately, though Elise says it is to fool the agents who are following them.

Summary
This movie was extremely difficult to review, as you might have been able to tell. The whole plot was centered around an upcoming, yet obvious twist, thus making it hard to discuss without giving anything away. As such, this summary will also be rather difficult.

The Tourist is a very telling example of almost all the movies that are released these days. Like most "thrillers" with a "plot twist", Tourist was easy to watch, predictable and over-explained every plot point. Apparently, Hollywood now has a "no-idiot-left-behind" program. As a result, every movie is spoon-fed to us with no real thought needed while watching them. Like I said, Tourist fails to break that mold.

While Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp both perform well, the script was off, its pacing weird and the superstar balance just wasn't there.

*Spoiler Alert*
The major plot twist was that Frank turns out to be Pearce, who has undergone massive facial reconstruction.
My main problem with this twist is that it was all hinted at throughout the movie; the government mentioned facial reconstruction and they thought Frank was Pearce the whole time.

An even bigger hole is the fact that it is made abundantly clear that there are no actual photos of Pearce, only sketches. So, this raises the question of why did facial reconstruction even need to be a part of it. In theory, the whole plot could have been pulled off without any obscure, multi-million dollar surgery. Similarly, Elise did not know that Frank was Pearce, which also seemed pointless.

In my mind, the overall weak movie that is The Tourist could have been a much better movie if a) there was no facial reconstruction in the story at all and b) Elise had known the whole time, making the whole thing to be a scam to get away with the money.

That's enough of my rant. To finish up, Tourist originally had a lot of potential but was ruined in the final script. In the end, this movie is definitely not worth paying full price to see. If anything, wait until it's on DVD and give your money to Redbox.

Personal Rating: 4 of 10
Plot: 4
Sexuality/Sensuality: 1
Drugs/Alcohol: 1 (wine is consumed.)

Tangled

Tangled
Directed by: Nathan Greno, Bryon Howard
Cast: Mandy Moore as Rapunzel
Zachary Levi as Flynn Rider
Donna Murphy as Mother Gothel
Rated: PG

*The following may contain spoilers*
Overview
Disney has always been known for its one-of-a-kind renditions of classic princess movies. They've covered everything from Snow White to Cinderella to The Princess and the Frog (though, I'm pretty sure that one was just to get those racism charges dropped). Needless to say, Disney has touched on just about every princess movie in existence so it really was only a matter of time before they retold Rapunzel's story.

Tangled is the telling of Rapunzel, with Disney's beloved twist. The main center of conflict is a very special sunflower, which is said to have grown from a drop of the sun that fell to the earth (Yes, because when a flaming ball of magma hits the ground, it grows a pretty flower). Mother Gothel, a witch (because there has to be at least one) finds the flower and discovers it has magic healing powers, which she selfishly uses to continually make herself younger and hides the flower for herself.

The neighboring kingdom to the flowers secluded island is ruled by a beloved king and queen who are expecting a baby. When the queen gets sick in the middle of her pregnancy, the king and his soldiers set out to find the magic healing flower. Uncovering it from Mother Gothel's hiding place, they uproot it and return to the kingdom where the flower is made into soup that heals the queen. The queen then has a beautiful baby girl with shining yellow hair. Mama Gothel puts two and two together and realizes that this kid is now the source of regeneration she needs to keep herself looking 40, instead of 400. However, Rapunzel's hair loses its power when it is cut, forcing Mother Gothel to do the only sensible thing left and kidnap the newborn and raises her as her own child.

Rapunzel spends the next 18 years of her life living in a secluded tower, where her "mother" visits her and uses her hair's power, while Rapunzel secretly dreams of exploring the world. Then, on her 18th birthday, unsuspecting thief, Flynn Rider arrives at the tower and things get Tangled.

Positive Attributes
Rapunzel obeys her mother for 18 years, without question and even asks permission to leave before she disobeys and leaves the tower.
Flynn is a thief, but is inherently good and stays honest on the deal he made with Rapunzel on their journey.
Eventually, Rapunzel and Flynn fall for each and Flynn does everything possible, including breaking out of jail and risking his life to save her.

Negative Attributes
This is a Disney movie, so there isn't a whole lot of "adult" negativity. As for the kids, however....

Mother Gothel can look pretty creepy at times, particularly whenever she hasn't made herself young.
Flynn is a thief, so he...steals things.
Rapunzel and Flynn go to a pub filled with bad guys, all of whom are made to look pretty creepy and most seem to be drinking some type of alcohol, though it's never specified.
Magic does play a small part in the film and Mother Gothel chants an incantation to get the hair to work.
Several fight sequences take place and many guards and thugs are knocked unconscious.
*SPOILER ALERT*
In the end of the film, Flynn gets stabbed and blood is shown. Mother Gothel is tripped and falls out of Rapunzel's tower but is reduced to dust before she hits the ground.

Summary
Tangled is a very refreshing dose of Disney ingenuity, especially considering some of the things Disney has forced it's audiences to endure over the last few years. Tangled, however, is a perfect blend of humor, romance and classic princess tale, with a beautiful touch of Disney magic. Good, clean and entertaining, Tangled will be a hard juggernaut to beat in the box-office this holiday season.

Personal Rating: 9 of 10
Plot: 8.5
Sexuality/Sensuality: .05
Spiritual Aspects: 1 (magic)
Drugs/Alcohol: .05