Starring: Clive Owen, Naomi Watts

As if bankers don’t have enough problems at the moment, they are now popping up as the bad guys in movies.

In lame action drama The International, financial giant IBBC is so evil it leaves a trail of bodies in its wake while starting wars and profiting from the debt that follows.

And you thought HBOS was bad. Trying to expose IBBC’s dodgy dealings is Interpol agent Louis Salinger (Owen) and Assistant DA Eleanor Whitman (Watts), who soon land up in trouble as they dig for dirt around the world.

Tom Tykwer’s film starts off intriguingly enough but you’ll soon lose interest as one ludicrous twist follows another.

It doesn’t help matters that the dialogue is seriously clunky and that both Owen and Watts, who have zero onscreen chemistry, put in stiff performances.

Yes, the cinematography is great – from glistening German skyscrapers to a stunning mountain pass in Italy – and there’s a shoot-out at the Guggenheim Museum in New York that kicks arse, but it’s not nearly enough to bail out The International.

Good for: Credit crunch victims who want some payback. PIERRE DE VILLIERS