The American

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This movie has been unfairly judged by IMDB members. People are jealous of George Clooney, and the life he has created for himself. Full disclosure - this is one of my favorite movies. I love the minimal dialogue - it creates a certain tone and realism. I love the soundtrack - impossible to find, but worth the search. I love the cinematography - you can watch this film in HD on mute and it is still enjoyable. And, then there is Violante Placido - one of the sexiest women ever captured on film. Here's the thing - if you want an exciting movie about a trained killer with tons of dialogue and action, watch The Bourne Identity, or a James Bond film, or Bad Boys II. The American is not an over-the-top action movie and it has no larger-than-life characters. For that exact reason, it is an outstanding film. RealReview Posting Scoring Criteria: Acting - 1/1 Casting - 1/1 Directing - 1/1 Story - 1/1 Writing/Screenplay - 1/1 Total Base Score = 5 Modifiers (+ or -) Originality: 0.5 Cinematography: 1 Music/Soundtrack: 0.5 Believability/Consistency: 1 A Personal Favorite: 1 Total RealReview Rating: 9

Who would have thought that Hollywood could produce a taut murder-thriller without slamming every plot point down our throats? But there you have it: that's THE American. George Clooney, whom I usually enjoy more in his comedic or semi-serious roles (O' BROTHER WHERE ART THOU and BURN AFTER READING being two of my recent favorites) pulls in a dark, interesting, and dangerous character as Jack, a weapons man/hit-man who's retirement from his chosen profession is proving extremely difficult. Making friends is risky to both Jack and those he likes, as we witness early on in the film what he's forced to do to a woman whose innocence means nothing when Jack is discovered in a Swedish hideout. Forcing Jack to leave, he travels to Italy where he's told to lay low and wait for instructions. And when the instructions come, the audience can feel those pin-pricks of caution raising on their necks. The great thing about The American is that Clooney is truly the only recognizable face for many U. S. film-watchers. But the rest of the cast are just as intense as Clooney's character. Great silences and moments of boredom are punctuated alongside moments of terrible aggression and death. And there's also sex, love, and priestly friendship intertwined. It's rare nowadays to find something like The American showing in U. S. cities, but most of us should be very glad it's here. Hearkening back to Hitchcock days (but with a modern bent), this movie almost certainly would've never seen the light of the Western hemisphere had it not been for Clooney's pretty-boy face taking front and center stage. But as recognizable as Clooney's face is, it is NOT a typical Clooney role. Here we get the actor stretching himself into new (and greater) territory. I swear this movie had the fewest lines I've ever heard in a major Hollywood production; and I'm thankful for that because it helped up the tension. Indeed, it is the film's tension that drives the entire plot. We see and feel the battles raging within Jack as he's forced to decide whether to kill someone he's growing close to, or to let them live and risk his own life ...again. Those looking for a kind of BOURNE IDENTITY style flick are going to be sorely disappointed if they think this is in-line with that action-driven drivel. So be prepared for something very different. And very good.

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. ~Steven C Visit my site http://moviemusereviews.com

The stillness of the film reminded me that the director, Anton Corbijn, was a still's photographer - what a coincidence - Here, the proceedings are enormously self-conscious, therefore the pacing becomes a minus instead of a plus. I like George Clooney but here he's in every frame and I kept longing for the Alain Delon of Jean Pierre Melville's "Le Samourai" Here I started to get impatient ten minutes into the film, something that never, ever, happened to me with a Melville film. On the plus side, the locations are breathtaking, like in "Eat Pray Love" but with a darker mood and a more "artistic" intention but stunning none the less. Violante Placido (daughter of Michele Placido) gives us an astonishing full frontal seconds after her appearance on the screen. I was already familiar with her spectacular forms for a film in which she was directed by her daddy. I think Anton Corbijn, is a talented director to be followed, at least until his next film. Then let's see what happens.