A 60’s type, classic romance thriller, reminiscent of Charade, The Tourist has an outstanding landscape of visual sensuality but the sexiness stops there. The two actors, Jolie and Depp, fail to exude the charm necessary for a movie that is set in one of the most romantic places in the world, Venice.

It’s funny when you think of a duo of actors together in one movie, like Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp, you can’t help but wonder the possibilities. It’s unfortunate that The Tourist doesn’t pack much of a punch with these two megastars carrying the load. The sad reality in this movie, even with all the great visual candy in the film, such as the luscious scenery and beautiful stars, there is no chemistry at all between Jolie and Depp. I find this weird. Surely there are parts of the film where there is not supposed to be any chemistry and there are supposed to be awkward humorous moments between the two, but when you get down to the nitty, gritty, the charm and charisma usually brought to the cinema by the actors just seemed missing. Perhaps this is a directorial problem, but it surely killed the luster of the film. I liked the movie, but didn’t love it. What could have been grand just seemed average in this classic 60′s romance/thriller in the vein of Charade meets the Secret Life of Walter Mitty.

Based on a French film, Anthony Zimmer, this movie packs quite a bit more scale with it as well as some outstanding visuals of Venice and other European locales. Unfortunately, the film doesn’t add anything new to the 2005 foreign film’s similar plot.  The movie follows Elise Ward (Angelina Jolie), the girlfriend of an elusive thief, known as Alexander Pierce. This criminal is wanted in dozens of countries by every law enforcement agency imaginable. A Scotland Yard agent his hot on his trail but can’t seem to get close enough to ID the crook, whose got a panache for changing his appearance. When Elise gets summoned to pick up a stranger in order to throw the cops off her trail, she develops an unexpected relationship with tourist, Frank Tupelo (Johnny Depp), a charming, but nervous math professor enjoying his trip abroad. Once this girl enters his life, their worlds are turned upside down by gangsters and cops galore, all wanting to find Alexander Pierce.

Ultimately, the strengths in this film are the visually sensuous landscapes of the settings in the film. The beautiful shots of Venice, Italy were just amazingly captured by director, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. The cat and mouse game was also very well done, as when you think you know what’s happening, you still question a bit of what truly is going on. Unfortunately, in a romance thriller like this, you must have chemistry, and with Depp and Jolie, I couldn’t buy any of it. I say this as any fan of these two should be cautious when thinking of seeing the film. You aren’t getting typical Depp or Jolie, even in typical roles, such as one playing an entrapped nicotine nut and the other a predatory love junkie.

In the end, this is a movie that is probably coming out at the right time, as there seems to be a need for some more older tastes in the theater, especially with Harry Potter, Tangled and Megamind dominating the screens the past week. This may be a welcomed date movie missing this time of year.

Total Grade = C +

The movie is expected to release sometime in 2011 with two of the world’s most bankable stars, Jolie and Depp. The film is a remake of a French movie called Anthony Zimmer which starred Sophie Marceau and Yvan Attal. I haven’t seen the French film but can’t wait to see this movie not just because of the stars but also the back of Italy and the premise sounds pretty cool.

The film revolves around Frank (Depp), an American tourist visiting Italy to mend a broken heart. Elise (Jolie) is an extraordinary woman who deliberately crosses his path in order to mislead all those following her former lover. Against the breathtaking backdrop of Venice, Frank pursues a potential romance but soon finds himself the pursued as he and Elise are caught in a whirlwind of intrigue and danger. The movie follows a series of manipulations, as characters realise that they are merely pieces being played by an unseen mastermind of the game. The movie is being directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck and also stars Paul Bettany, Timothy Dalton, Steven Berkoff and Raoul Bova.

So I remember when Mr. and Mrs. Smith came out how mezmerizing a duo on screen was for Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt teaming up. Obviously we know what happened there. Who would have ever thought that two of the world’s most significant acting brands would ever join forces, naturally I mean Johnny Depp (yes he is a bigger name than Pitt) for the ladies and Angelina Jolie for the guys.

I mean I’d go see that movie! wouldn’t you? Johnny Depp is in talks to star with Angelina Jolie in The Tourist a film that is undergoing another major pre-production changes as it heads toward a February production start. Graham King’s GK Films is financing and distributing through his multipicture output deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Depp is poised to replace Sam Worthington on the project who has left due to creative differences along with the planned director, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck.

That is okay because we think Depp is a better choice and the directorial replacement is just as good, how about Alfonso Cuaron?

Depp’s relationship with producer, King, with whom he is close, is the reason why he is being sought, most recently the two collaborated on The Rum Diary and the Gore Verbinski-directed animated pic Rango. What is interesting here is that Depp’s next films were supposed to be Pirates 4 and The Lone Ranger for Disney, obviously he will do them but we speculate this little spy thriller adventure to hit theaters first.