I was instantly struck by how entertaining The International looked when I first saw the trailer. A mash-up of Bourne movies or a crossover from the Bond flicks, the film takes the not-quite-handsome, slightly rugged Clive Owen and injects him into a contemporary thriller about an Interpol agent, Louis Salinger, trying to take down a multinational bank. Of course, in the world of today's money, taking down a bank may be worth it or may be not.

The fictional International Bank of Business and Credit has taken on more than lending and saving money, and has become a wheel of darkness and evil. Specializing in money laundering, arms trading, and forcible destruction of government, the IBBC will apparently stop at nothing from growing richer and more powerful than ever before. And it's up to our British friend Owen/Salinger and his dashing New York assistant district attorney Eleanor Whittman (Naomi Watts) to stop them.

Directed by the man who brought us Run Lola Run, a fastpaced adrenaline rush of German triumph, the film appears to be full of exotic and foreign locations, fast bullets, and edge-of-your-seat suspense. But all of these hinges on what you think of Owen and how seriously you end up taking him and the accent that he rode in on. If you're thinking of the guy who trudged his way through the ridiculous Shoot 'Em Up, or Closer, Derailed, or King Arthur (which I liked), then you probably aren't as excited as I am. But considering his roles in Inside Man (sequel coming!) or Children of Men, you have to admit that this is promising.

But what will we learn from this fine action thriller? Will we experience the raw reminder that we shouldn't turn over all our power to banks or government or anyone to whom we abdicate our moral responsibility? Will we come to recognize that the breakdown of moral authority occurs when anyone becomes too big for their britches? It seems fair to consider that we should "consider where our treasures lie" and do what we can to not take advantage of the disadvantaged or down-and-out.

Somehow, though, I think this one will still ride on the back of Owen, and hopefully at the end of the day, the corruption will be uncovered and the light will shine in on those falsely-filled deposit boxes and bank vaults. If it doesn't, and the movie fails, Owen may soon find himself at the back of the employment line, just like everyone else.