The International Letdown
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- International Women's Day 2008 (02/03/2008)
You might think this film would appeal to the Here Is The City audience. Unfortunately, you’d be wrong.
Clive Owens plays an Interpol agent hell bent on finding out the truth behind a conglomerate bank’s dealings. His sidekick is New York District Attorney Naomi Watts. The extent of the premise is the Bank is under suspicion of money laundering, weapons trafficking, and other illegal activities on a global scale. Owens and Watts probe into the affairs of the bank after a potential whistle-blower mysteriously suffers a heart attack after his initial meeting to give evidence against his almighty employers IBBC (International Bank of Business and Credit).
The film starts off with the best intentions, and held my attention as I expected a gripping thriller I could comprehend and believe in, based on the world of banking. However towards the middle it all gets a little messy with over-complex story lines, plot holes, and the unlikely premise that this uber bank is in the business of carrying out hits left right and centre. On the plus side, it did have one of the most exhilarating shoot-out scenes since the Matrix, held in the famous Guggenheim Museum. It was jaw-droppingly intense, but did leave me wondering if it was necessary in the grand scheme of things.
My negative take on this film is a huge shame as when you realise the underlying concept behind this film was based on the true banking scandal of BCCI (Banking of Credit & Commerce International), which took place in the 1980s and '90s. It was a truly amazing story of how an organisation could fly under the radar of numerous governments, regulatory bodies and auditing firms, whilst dealing in money laundering, terrorism, arms trafficking, and nuclear technologies - and at one point becoming the seventh largest private bank in the world.
It seems there was a solid basis for an interesting and in-depth film to be made about ‘when banks go wrong’, but they missed it here. It will only be a matter of time before we see someone take the Bernard Madoff story to the big screen, but they’ll have to figure out what happened first.
The film starts off with the best intentions, and held my attention as I expected a gripping thriller I could comprehend and believe in, based on the world of banking. However towards the middle it all gets a little messy with over-complex story lines, plot holes, and the unlikely premise that this uber bank is in the business of carrying out hits left right and centre. On the plus side, it did have one of the most exhilarating shoot-out scenes since the Matrix, held in the famous Guggenheim Museum. It was jaw-droppingly intense, but did leave me wondering if it was necessary in the grand scheme of things.
My negative take on this film is a huge shame as when you realise the underlying concept behind this film was based on the true banking scandal of BCCI (Banking of Credit & Commerce International), which took place in the 1980s and '90s. It was a truly amazing story of how an organisation could fly under the radar of numerous governments, regulatory bodies and auditing firms, whilst dealing in money laundering, terrorism, arms trafficking, and nuclear technologies - and at one point becoming the seventh largest private bank in the world.
It seems there was a solid basis for an interesting and in-depth film to be made about ‘when banks go wrong’, but they missed it here. It will only be a matter of time before we see someone take the Bernard Madoff story to the big screen, but they’ll have to figure out what happened first.
Here Is The Writer : Omer Bhatti
Omer Bhatti, Head Sales Trader of WorldSpreads and markets commentator during the week, is always happy to go to a cushy cinema and devour films on the weekend. No film is ruled out, be it French film noir, Hollywood CGI action, or Japanese Manga. Look to Omer for input on where to go and what to see, whether it’s for a first date, family outing, Sunday recovery session, or guy's - or girl's - night out. (Just don't make him watch Sex & the City again.)
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