Although “The Interpreter” holds no surprises when it comes to the liberal political message that Hollywood loves to sprinkle through most of its work, the movie has enough redeeming characteristics to make it an enjoyable action thriller.

Nicole Kidman plays Silvia Broome, a U.N. interpreter born and raised in the fictional African country of Matobo, where President Zawanie and his cronies are committing a strikingly Darfuresque genocide in defense against “terrorist rebel movements.” After she reports overhearing a plot to assassinate Matobo’s president-dictator during an upcoming speech to the U.N. (an attempt to avoid prosecution in the ICC for crimes against humanity), the secret service launches a complex pursuit to prevent the assassination from occurring.

The situation is further complicated by tensions between Kidman’s character and Tobin Keller, the agent heading the investigation (played by Sean Penn). Both are struggling with intense grief over the death of family members, and conflicting emotions over dealing with their loved one’s killers. Silvia Broome’s past relations with the rebel groups in Matobo restrain her from complete honesty with Keller out of fear that her brother may be involved in the assassination attempt. As the investigation unravels and Keller’s responsibilities expand to include protecting Broome from plotters seeking to eliminate witnesses to their plans, the two learn to trust each other and eventually find emotional support and comfort in their relationship.

Keller and Broome’s developing relationship is clearly intended to mirror the creators’ image of the U.S. ’s relationship to the U.N. Keller is portrayed as cowboyish, forceful, and at times lacking in political and diplomatic savvy.

Broome, on the other hand, is staunchly committed to the U.N.’s peaceable approach to conflicts, even if “diplomacy is slower than a gun.” In dealing with their grief, the two must learn to forgive their family members’ murderers, leading to a few overly sentimental (and covertly anti-death penalty) lines.

Whether director Sydney Pollack meant to or not, however, the film’s ending seems to expose the ludicrous- ness of the U.N.’s version of action. In a climactic final scene, Broome reads a list of citizens murdered by Zawanie’s thugs before the I.C.C. convicts him for crimes against humanity. After spending the last one-and-a-half hours witnessing Broome’s horribly tragic losses at the hands of Zawanie’s regime (including a scene where a suicide bomber blows up a New York bus in order to assassinate the capitalist rebel leader of Matobo), we are left asking ourselves the obvious question: wouldn’t it have been better if the U.N. had stepped in earlier and used military force to aid the rebel cause?

With the death toll in Darfur nearing 400,000, U.N. ‘diplomacy’ is worse than a farce: now only a thinly-veiled cover for political cowardice. As international officials laud the fact that Sudanese regime thugs may be tried in the International Criminal Court, hundreds more die each day.