Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie sparkle in director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's ('The Lives Of Others') entertaining 60's throwback. Jolie plays a beautiful, mysterious woman (what a stretch) trying to escape the clutches of Scotland Yard (represented onscreen by the brilliant Paul Bettany) in a bid to protect her equally elusive lover; whose stolen a tidy sum of cash from unhinged crime kingpin Steven Berkoff. She tries to confuse the cops by cosying up to an American tourist who resembles her partner. Said tourist just so happens to be Johnny Depp, and the pair are forced to go on the run from the powers that be; zipping from one glamorous location to another, faster than you can say 'La Dolce Vita' meets 'North By Northwest'.

Johnny Depp has got the measure of the role, and plays it out with tongue planted firmly in cheek; the scene where he flees from a pair of Russian assassins whilst dressed in a stripy blue sleeping suit pretty much says it all. Jolie is also in on the joke and saunters into every scene like it's the first take on a Dior 'J'Adore' perfume commercial.
Now had this film been made in the era that it so strongly evokes, you could imagine the main characters played by Dirk Bogart and Monica Vitti, for 'The Tourist' is the kind of movie they just don't make anymore: A light, breezy, well acted romp; it's not a masterpiece and nor does it harbor any pretence to be one. Its a film to be taken at face value: an old school crime caper with romantic interludes. Very few people saw 'The Tourist' and it received some surprisingly harsh reviews. Critics and audiences were expecting something along the lines of 'The Thomas Crown Affair' or 'The Bourne Identity' but what they got was more in the vein of 'Fathom' and 'Once Upon a Honeymoon'.

A narratively convoluted, arguably absurd, but consistently entertaining film with a great cast, good cinematography and a reasonably witty script.,'The Tourist' will appeal to those looking for something a little different from their movies. No franchise, computer games or superheroes in sight: A breath of fresh air.