The Tourist (2010)

Count the jokes in The Tourist and you’ll stop at one: Johnny Depp ordering in Spanish while standing in Italy. Everything else is sleepy. A reported $100M bought Venice at golden hour, flowing gowns, a fancy train and almost no chemistry. Depp plays Frank, a math teacher from Wisconsin, as permanently flustered. Angelina Jolie mostly glides, smolders and stares out of train windows. The big chase is Depp running across Venetian rooftops in his pajamas, and it’s somehow slower than a gondola ride. Paul Bettany works hard as the obsessed inspector, and Timothy Dalton is a calm, classy boss in a small role. The twist is the kind you can spot from the platform before the train even leaves. It made $278.8 million worldwide, and it holds a 21% on Rotten Tomatoes. A 3.5 because Venice is the only one in the cast doing any work. $567 says that on your next trip abroad, you answer somebody in the wrong language with total confidence and blame this movie.

What works: Venice looks stunning, and Paul Bettany brings some real energy as the inspector chasing a ghost.

What doesn’t: Jolie and Depp have no spark, the pace is sleepy, and the big twist is obvious long before it arrives.

Who it’s for: People who want to look at Venice for an hour and a half and don’t much care what happens in it.