Frank Tupelo is a humble community college teacher on a dream vacation to tour around Europe. On his train, he meets Elise, and they start to connect. What Frank doesn't know about Elise: Elise is the lover of Alexander Pearce, a man who owes millions in taxes to England and who stole billions of dollars from a vicious mobster named Shaw. Elise got a letter from Pearce with explicit instructions to flirt with a stranger on the train and let those pursuing him believe that the strange is, in fact, Pearce. Poor Frank believes he's on a simple vacation, when in fact he's getting framed as Europe's most wanted. Inspector Acheson, the detective who's spent years chasing Pearce, gets word of Elise's location and heads to meet them. Also meeting them: Shaw, having heard through moles in the police force that Pearce has made a public appearance. After going to a romantic ball and continuing to fall for one another, Elise leaves Frank at the dance to be captured by the police, who try to detain him to keep him safe from Shaw. However, when Shaw arrives and grabs Frank for himself, Elise feels bad and comes back to the rescue. Elise tells Frank about the entire plot, and that she was at one point an undercover agent, but she got close to Pearce and was suspended from the force. Frank reveals that he doesn't care and he loves her, and together they must somehow leave the country, avoiding both the police and the mob.
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Best part of story, including ending:
The film itself is enjoyable enough for the majority of its run time, mostly thanks to its stars, Depp and Jolie, but the ending is so terrible that it undoes the entire film.
Best scene in story:
An escape scene racing through the Venice canals with a series of boats is certainly the high point in the action, no question.
Opinion about the main character:
Frank is for the most part likable and charming as the man in the wrong place at the wrong time... until the twist, which is atrocious and undoes everything we know about the character.
