The American is beautiful to look at and it has one of the year's better scores but the story is very weak and never picks up until the second half. The "mission" in this film is not all that exciting and very bland. In fact, the romantic angle, which is usually a downfall for assassin movies, is the better part of the film. The film does goes by very slow in the beginning but when it finds its footing it really does pick up and become satisfying though that beginning half still can't be made up for. George Clooney is decent though it is one of his weaker roles. Violante Placido, who plays the romantic interest Clara, doesn't feel typically cliche and she achieves her role well enough. Though behind-the-scenes tend to be more concentrated on her nude at times then her actual character, but that can be expected since her character is a prostitute. Thekla Reuten and Johan Leysen are both weak supporting characters and Leysen's role is really worth nothing and when his character really makes a play, it feels pushed and just a play from the book. If the film worked on its storyline, The American would of been a sharp piece of cinema. It's not quite there however, but at least the scenery and score kept it watchable and just shy of a fresh mark. **

28?

Good review, and I agree with you 110%. The story is just so very dull and lifeless its hard to enjoy. However the last 20 minutes I thought were good.

The American is a sophisticated and subtle suspense film. Don't believe ths misleading ad campaign promising a Bond/Bourne-esque action film; director Anton Corbijn has crafted a compact, contemplative, and quiet assassin picture better suited to the art house than the multiplex. It is clear Corbijn, whose past credits include music videos for Depeche Mode, Nirvana, and U2, as well as his phenomenal directorial debut, Control, has no interest in the conventions of films such as this (Léon, Bangkok Dangerous). The pace is deliberate. Actions and behavior (the assembling of a rifle, the surveying of a street for enemies) are shown in great detail. German pop musician Herbert Grönemeyer's original score is often absent; it sets the mood when required, but is never insistent. Much of the protagonist and his plight is shown rather than told (credit George Clooney for delivering a wound-tight performance which communicates a great deal with just facial expressions and other gestures). The film is not perfect--the inclusion of a perceptive, open-minded priest, played by Paolo Bonacelli, never feels 100 percent natural--but most of it is haunting, sumptuous perfection.

A/A-

Did you just compare Léon and Bangkok Dangerous?

No. I referenced what I consider the definitive modern hitman-redemption film, and a recent wide release which covered a lot of the same territory (clichés). The withdrawn, super-professional assassin who decides "this" is his Last Job (because of love, friendship, and/or emotional torment).

Perhaps with shades of The Passenger.

ew

Seriously? I find this hard to believe.

Still, I've heard both of these comparisons made several times now, and considering I really liked Control, I guess I'm officially interested in seeing this.... ?

An unfiltered, slow-mo, close-up, meditation on the meaning of work.

The American takes a long languid look at the elaborate tools, the mad skillz, the guilefullly byzantine strategies of one man and his profession. It's certainly quite insightful in the accuracy of it's small details. And, well... the big picture stuff? The furthest ya get back from Clooney is a rare bird's-eye view or two of the mountaintop medieval village.

Me?I kinda dug it for a while there - - at least till it it finally wore me out with it's turgid plot. There's times in this film where lots of intense action is going on, but even then it remains contained and quiet in it's execution. You've got to reset your action meter before going into The American - - after a summer of Piranha 3D, Machete, A-Team, and Predator, it's way, way way down the scale - - it's even far lower than Get Low on the Actionometer^®.

But, it's certainly no Solaris-level, worst-film-of-all-time candidate (Clooney's proof that he's not above simple posing for the camera for extended periods of time to make up for a dearth of script or whit of sense) - - The American has it's cool. Yep, it's got it's own kinda serene self-possession goin' on. There's a wit to it's stoneface. It's hip to it's sloth.

Relax and let it flow through you.


3 out of 5.



{Note: The audience I saw it with actually booed the film as it ended. ¾ of the audience clearly had no patience for The American.}

*

On the bright side Corbjin knows how to photograph naked women.

+1

MISOGYNISTS!

Either you don't understand the meaning of that word or you are making a joke - - either way, I choose to laugh.

I thought it was terrific, but what do I know.

nothing