Movie Review - 'The American'

The American Starring George Clooney, Violante Placido, and Paolo Bonacelli Directed by Anton Corbijn Rated R

Some movies are slow because they're put together wrong or there simply isn't enough to sustain 100 minutes or whatever the length is. Other movies are designed to be slow because they're methodical, concerned with the details. The American is the second kind of movie, but it's easy to make a case that it's masquerading as the first. Not much happens in Anton Corbijn's film, an adaptation of the 1990 Martin Booth novel A Very Private Gentleman. But this isn't about what happens on screen as much as what happens behind the eyes of Jack (George Clooney). Well, we're introduced to him as Jack. He's in Sweden, but he can't stay there long. He makes a phone call when he gets to Rome and is told when he meets the voice on the other end of the line to lay low in a small village and await further instructions. We've seen enough hitman movies to know this other man is Jack's handler. Whatever happened in Sweden requires a little cleaning up, so it's best that Jack disappear. That's easy to do in Castel del Monte, a hillside town in the Abruzzo mountains with a population around 500. Except, as the title suggests, Jack is an American. That makes it a little tougher to blend in despite his cover: Jack becomes Edward, a landscape and architecture photographer on a working holiday. Eventually, Jack gets a call from his handler with a job offer. He'll build a weapon for a mysterious assassin (Thekla Reuten), and as fate would have it, she catches Jack's eye as much as his professional interest. But Jack's been burned by that kind of thing before, so he internalizes the only human instinct he has left. Jack buries himself in his work, and this is the true beauty of The American. Watching Clooney intricately assemble this gun piece by piece is watching Corbijn put together his film, slowly, patiently, but definitely with purpose and a destination. The same can be said as the gun building acting as a surrogate for Clooney's arc, which is never exactly stonefaced, but it certainly not in the same orbit as his usual charming portrayals. His hitman is filled with absolute sadness. He makes two friends during his stay in Castel del Monte and one, a priest, tells him, "You cannot deny the existence of hell. You live there." The hitman seeks comfort during his job with a local prostitute (Violante Placido), and mistakenly or not, he sees the contact as emotional as much as physical. Clooney's muted performance is surrounded by a cosmetically attractive film. Castel del Monte is an unforgettable site, placed so perfectly against the mountains. Corbijn uses natural and ambient light for nearly everything, and even his choice of actresses - they're slightly more seasoned yet still inescapably attractive - gives the film more authenticity than the story would have in other hands. The split for most viewers will come in the film's final few moments: Is the conclusion a payoff? Do movies need payoffs, especially slow ones? Was it worth the hour-and-a-half of introspective pacing to get there? For most, the answers will be no, yes, and no. However, this is the only conclusion in the cards, and realistically, the only one the story could really have, precisely because it unfolds the way it does.

Comments

[moomovie]

Most "one last job" movies are high-energy action flicks or thrillers driven by a veteran actor playing a character with a troubling back story, but Anton Corbijn's "The American" operates as a character-driven mood piece, a precise and quiet visual portrayal of a man trying to quit his dangerous profession who is constantly haunted and pervasively paranoid.

Way different from the Clooney-led spy thrillers of the '90s, "The American" broods and ruminates under the Corbijn's precise visual style. Those expecting Clooney's return to suave criminal mastery will find themselves waiting and waiting for this film to pop. It doesn't. There is no mêlée of Bourne-style assassin-chasing amid the hillside towns of the Italian countryside, so for many, shots of Clooney doing push-ups and putting together a rifle will become tedious.

But "The American" doesn't languish quite as much as it might seem, though it certainly does at times. After a jarring opening sequence in Sweden when Clooney's character Jack realizes he's being targeted, Jack quietly makes his way to Rome and then Abruzzo, where a job awaits him even though he's clearly ready to quit and he's still shaken from Sweden. Shots of him maneuvering the gorgeous countryside ensue as well as aforementioned exercise. In a town in the Abruzzo area, he meets Mathilde, his client, for whom he will build a custom rifle as that's his line of work. In the process, he becomes close with a gorgeous prostitute named Clara (Violante Placido) and comes to believe he's being pursued by the Swedes, causing paranoia to engross him.

Corbijn, who directed the 2007 black-and-white biopic "Control" about the short life of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis, possesses a calculated and engaging visual style. His shots are ideally framed and pull our eye everywhere it needs to go. Considering dialogue is sparse, the ability for a scene to say a lot without saying anything is crucial and Corbijn does just that. He also plays well off audience expectation for this genre and twists the story in fresh and interesting ways.

Corbijn and Clooney are clearly on the same page, even if it means the film puts too much emphasis on the non-verbal and the dauntingly slow build-up to the climax. As much as the emphasis is tone, tone and tone, we come to understand Jack (who later decides he's Edward) extremely well and see his conflict between sticking to his sinful nature as a means to survive and just letting it all go because it bottles him up inside. You can critique the method all you like and complain about the film's choice to lean towards drama instead of action, but Corbijn possesses a good measure of talent and "The American" will leave a profound impression.

- MooMovie Guy
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[Tyler Durden]

I have to be honest, I usually dig Clooney flicks. This one is not the worst of the bunch ("Men Who Sleep With Goats") this isn't the best either. I kept thinking of the U2 film "Linear" which is a lot of vignettes with U2's album. Honestly I was really impatient, I do love the shots Anton Corbijn chose. I do like the fact that George Clooney doesn't even access his charm and that he plays an isolated assassin. If I had to see it again I would be a little more flowing with the praise. Overall I would say a "B" it is not terrible by any means, it is definetly not in the Bourne or Bond category thankfully.

[Rachelle]

I have had such a hard time with Clooney while i love his smirk and thnk he is downright "dreamy" I have a hard time wiht him in serious rolses because he always has that smirk/smile think goin on. I think i will have to veiw a few more screen shots to see if I see it. I want to like this movie enough to see it in the theaters but I am not sure I would be able to belive the pain and lonesomeness of his charachter if i saw that smirk.

[Canadian Drugs Online]

This is not one of his best films. At one point, the audience was really laughing some of the dialogue, and when that happens you know the movie clunker.

[tommy ngo]

The problem with the film is the existence of numerous conjectures one has to make to make sense of the logics in the script! In my view, if Jack's handler wanted him dead, why did he have to go through such an elaborate scheme ? i.e. hired another assasin, faked the assignment as create a specialized weapon . Is it more logical just let the female assasin took him down ?

It took me a while to figure out who killed the female assasin : Jack modified the gun & the bullets to let it fired in reverse and killed the shooter . If Jack knew his boss was going to kill him, just killed the hired assasin & his boss right off the bat , without having modyfy the gun & bullets .

Anyhow, it's a boring movies and it's the fault of a bad script !

[Verna C]

THE AMERICAN was probably the worst movie I have ever seen. It's right up there with THE AVIATOR which I suffered through.