When it comes to the U.N, however, I’ve worked for them, and so has my sister (who spent 8 months in Iraq after the first Gulf War, working for the U.N.H.C.R.).  So I know what a ridiculously incompetent organization it is.  That its internal security officers are portrayed as being even remotely competent, when the U.N.’s international peacekeeping troops aren’t allowed to fire their guns – even in the face of abject murder and mayhem – is laughable.  (See “Hotel Rwanda” for a devastating portrayal of their ineptitude.)  And when country leaders who have committed mass genocide serve as heads of committees “investigating” human rights violations – instead of being held accountable at The Hague for their crimes against humanity – it seems highly implausible that this organization is ever going to accomplish anything.  I’m glad that the U.S. has stopped funding the overwhelming majority of the U.N.’s bloated budget, which rewards secretaries and other clerks – who often work no more than a few hours a day – with astronomical salaries and cushy benefits.  Let Ted Turner keep paying for this, if he wants.

If you can get past the political agenda, which plagues almost every film these days, and are willing to overlook “The Interpreter”’s improbabilities, then it isn’t a bad film.  You probably won’t remember it in a few weeks, but it will be a fairly enjoyable experience while you watch it.

AUDIENCE:  Adults and mature teens.

OBJECTIONABLE CONTENT:

• Drugs/Alcohol Content:    Characters drink beer and liquor throughout film, including several discussions in bars, over drinks.
• Language/Profanity:  About 15 obscenities and profanities.
• Sexual Content/Nudity:   A brief scene in a strip club, where strippers dance and gyrate while wearing G-strings (partial nudity); couple hugs then sleeps together, fully clothed, on couch.
• Violence:   Partially-lit scene showing dozens of mutilated dead bodies; men are shot to death at point-blank range by children; art photos of mutilated individuals on walls of U.N.; ongoing discussions about genocide, murder and mutilation; man plants bomb on bus, which explodes and kills dozens of people; man kills several people (offscreen) in assassination attempt; characters point guns.