I saw an interview with Viggo Mortensen where he was promoting this movie, and they showed a clip. After Viggo described the character he was playing, and watching the clip, I had an idea of what the character was. It turns out, I actually had no idea what the character was like. I expected him to be more like all of the other characters he has played who are physically intimidating and have something menacing going on behind the eyes. That was not him.
The movie is very... pretty. For some reason, Viggo's shirt always looks pretty clean, and the landscape shots are very nice. Kirsten Dunst was done up like a 1950s wife going on safari with her husband, and it put me in mind of an Alfred Hitchcock movie like North By Northwest. I didn't even recognize her at first.
Oscar Isaac is the only other major character. He is a local con man who helps the couple out by translating and guiding them around Athens. He's also an American, so it seems to work out pretty well for everyone including the audience who doesn't have to wade through a heavy accent to understand what's going on.
The issue with the film is really down to pacing. This movie lags so much that I almost hoped the characters would sit down and watch a movie so I could enjoy a break from the movie I was watching, and I could watch something with a faster pace. I kept expecting Viggo to go nuts on someone, but there was nothing to it.
Someone called this movie suspenseful, and I think that person has not been exposed to enough suspenseful films in his or her life. This film just didn't have much suspense. I would say it was predictable, but I would have predicted a lot more stuff to happen. I'd also have developed the characters a lot more.
Acting was good
Dialogue was good
Story was slow as hell
Direction was good
Editing was okay, but a lot could have been cut.
1.5/5