This is a film about international finance, politics, and corruption in the banking business. The lead character is Louis Salinger (played by Clive Owen) who is an agent for Interpol. He works with Thomas Schumer (played by Ian Burfield). While Salinger observes, Schumer meets with André Clement (played by Georges Bigot) in Clement's car. Clement tells Schumer about a deal where the international bankers will buy missiles from the Chinese. Offering protection, Schumer tells Clement his best choice is to give up evidence on the bank. Clement is reluctant. Schumer gets out of the car, walks across the street towards Salinger, then collapses. Salinger runs to his aid, but is hit by a van.
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In the hospital, Salinger refuses treatment, demands to check out the body of Schumer. It seems to be a heart attack, but Salinger knows better. Schumer called the District Attorney of New York, Eleanor Whitman (played by Naomi Watts) right before he died. Ms. Whitman tries to reach Schumer. She finds out from Salinger he is dead. Salinger invites her to Berlin to help with the investigation. Whitman goes with Salinger to the police station to convince them Schumer was murdered. They explain that Interpol has an investigation of the international bankers, for money laundering, which is ongoing. New York is involved because they run many of the transactions through New York. They tell the police that all the witnesses against the bank have been murdered or are missing. Nevertheless, the police are still not convinced.
Salinger goes back to Interpol. He finds out that Clement died on the same day as Schumer in a car accident. Jonas Skarssen (played by Ulrich Thomsen), who runs the organization of international bankers, gives a false statement to police about Clement's whereabouts on the day of his accident. Salinger sets up a meeting with Skarssen to catch him in the lie. At the meeting, Skarssen uses his attorney Martin White (played by Patrick Baladi) to talk with Salinger instead of talking to him himself. White avoids the accusation of Skarssen making a false statement to the police, by producing an official police report showing the corrected “error."
Salinger meets with his boss. Salinger discovers both his phone and the phone of his boss are compromised. Whitman meets with Clement's widow. From her, Whitman gets a clue to talk to Umberto Calvini (played by Luca Barbareschi) who is running for Prime Minister of Italy. Before this, Calvini was CEO of a weapon's manufacturer. Whitman goes with Salinger to Italy to talk with Calvini. Calvini readily admits that the international bankers bought missiles from China in order to sell them at a profit to others. Calvini warns them that the international bankers are so powerful; they had better not try to take them on, unless they want to lose their lives. Calvini goes to give a speech. An assassin shoots him. The first shot fired, misses. A second shot kills him. A police officer kills the person that shot first and evidence is planted by the same police officer to link the now dead shooter to the second shot, which he did not fire. The assassin who fired the second shot, that actually killed Calvini, gets away. Salinger and Whitman follow him back to New York.
Salinger finds the assassin. There is a massive shoot-out in the Guggenheim museum. The assassin saves Salinger from being shot. Both Salinger and the assassin are now targets. They team up to escape, but after they get away, the assassin dies telling Salinger they would never allow him to live. Salinger meets with Wexler (played by Armin Mueller-Stahl), the guy that hired the assassin. Wexler tells him the international bankers control everything, the police, the governments, and get rid of anyone that opposes them. The only way to bring down the international bankers has to be outside the legal system. Salinger forces Wexler to help him. They go to Istanbul to confront Skarssen. While Salinger is trying to get evidence on Skarssen, Wexler is shot and killed. Salinger then stalks Skarssen in order to kill him. When he catches Skarssen, Skarssen laughs at him, saying he will never be able to arrest him. Salinger tells him, that is not what he wants. Skarssen tells him even if he is killed there will be an immediate replacement. While Salinger is thinking about killing Skarssen, Skarssen is shot by the same guy who killed Wexler. This assassin was after revenge for the death of his Italian boss Calvini. Nevertheless, after the killing of Skarssen, the international bank continues, just as Skarssen said it would, as if nothing has happened.
Best part of story, including ending:
This is a good action movie, with the kind of non-stop action we all like.
Best scene in story:
My favorite scene is when Salinger finally confronts Skarssen, because of the surprising way Skarssen is killed, not by Salinger, but by another guy avenging the death of Calvini.
Opinion about the main character:
The most admirable quality about Salinger is he tries to do the right thing, expose the international corruption, despite all the odds stacked against him.
A British investigator and a New York district attorney attempt to bring down the biggest corrupt bank in the world. The International Bank of Business and Credit, known as the IBBC, is a dangerously corrupt bank: they aid terrorists, coups, international arms traders, criminals who need money laundered, and many more. Two people are attempting to find the necessary evidence to bring them down: Louis Salinger, a grizzled Interpol agent, and Eleanor Whitman, a New York district attorney. They arrive in Italy when a candidate for prime minister is murdered, the alleged assassin of the candidate is murdered, and corrupt-seeming police force them to leave town. They find a lead on the actual assassin, and they follow him to New York. They meet with the assassin at the Guggenheim Museum; unfortunately, before they can get the assassin to put evidence on the record against the bank, they are met with a hail of gunfire from all sides, as the bank has sent a small cache of assassins to take them all out. When one of the bank's employees, Wexler, is brought in for interrogation, Salinger is told that there is no way to bring down this bank by the law-- their reach is too great, and even if they do bring it down, there are so many other banks to take its place that it's a worthless effort. The only way to bring them down is to step outside of the law and kill them all. With Salinger unwilling to resort to vigilante tactics, he must hope that, with the help of Wexler, he can get a hold of something... anything... that he can use against the IBBC in a court of law.
Best part of story, including ending:
This is a remarkably compelling action thriller, considering it's about something as boring as bank transactions. It's primarily notable for its sensational action sequence in the middle.
Best scene in story:
The aforementioned action sequence at the Guggenheim is terrifically shot and edited; the stakes are high as can be and the violence gets bloody and graphic. It's action rooted in realism.
Opinion about the main character:
Salinger is principled to a fault, which like many similar heroes makes him unlikely to bring down the villainous corporation. Underdogs always make for great protagonists.
