Director Tom Tykwer first grabbed our attention with the frenzied, feverish Run, Lola, Run. Here, he seems barely interested in keeping us awake.

The International sends a grizzled Interpol agent (Clive Owen) and a spunky New York district attorney (Naomi Watts) on a crusade to bring down a bank that brokers Third World arms deals. The story is smart, but it’s also patience-testing at every turn, a bad sign for a thriller. 

To build tension, information is meted out in microscopic quantities that left me feeling like Oliver – Please, sir, can I have some more?!

More frustrating is that the pair lack a personal stake in solving the case. Their characters risk their lives because it’s the right thing to do – an entirely noble pursuit, justice – but this makes it hard to empathize the fourth or fifth time they get shot at or run over. And there’s not even a hint of romantic frisson between them, à la Three Days Of The Condor, which the film clearly wants to emulate. 

There’s also a surprising lack of action – not a single car chase. A terrifically staged shootout seems to exist solely as a reminder never to take off your bulletproof vest until the shooting stops.