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The American (R)
Expert filmmaking makes the cliches easier to bear
Violante Placido (left) and George Clooney (right) star in The American. (Focus Features)
8/30/2010
Sticky business, this killer-for-hire work. You can't just quit and walk away scot-free from the job of an assassin, especially if you're as experienced and secretive as Edward (George Clooney), a hit man so ruthless he'll rub out anyone -- even people he loves -- in order to carry out his assignments without leaving a trace.
But even the most steely soldier is prone to loneliness and guilt. The American is yet another entry in the hit-man-with-a-conscience genre, the sort of film that became so ubiquitous after Pulp Fiction that Hollywood imposed an unofficial moratorium. But director Anton Corbijn, an acclaimed photographer and maker of music videos (this is his second film, after 2007's Control), does something different -- and compelling -- with this shopworn material. He shapes Rowan Joffe's screenplay, which is based on Martin Booth's novel A Very Private Gentleman, into an absorbing, unusually quiet mood piece.
Clooney, enacting a variation on his wistful loner from Up in the Air, has got the inner-torture act down pat, but we've seen him play this sort of role before. The American is heavy on cliches, from the beautiful, gold-hearted prostitute (Violante Placido) with whom Edward falls in love to the wise old priest (Paolo Bonacelli) who is constantly spouting sage advice and observations (``You are American. You think you can escape history'').
But Corbijn makes the familiar strange, focusing on details other filmmakers would gloss over. There are long stretches of silence as we watch Edward assemble a high-powered sniper rifle out of spare auto parts or fill bullets with mercury to make them more deadly. Shot with subtle precision by cinematographer Martin Ruhe, The American finds suspense in small, seemingly meaningless moments, such as the pair of legs briefly glimpsed descending a staircase just before the camera cuts away or a picnic in which Edward believes his date is fishing around in her handbag for a gun with which to shoot him.
The American is slight and unessential, but it contains some beautiful, expert filmmaking and bears a distinctly adult sensibility -- the first sign that the fall movie season approaches.
Cast: George Clooney, Violante Placido, Thekla Reuten, Paolo Bonacelli.
Director: Anton Corbijn.
Screenwriter: Rowan Joffe.
Producers: Anne Carrey, George Clooney, Jill Green.
A Focus Features release. Running time: 100 minutes. Vulgar language, violence, gore, nudity, sexual situations, adult themes.
| Average rating based on 5 reviews. |
What you said
I disagree entirely. The filmmaking did NOT make the cliches easier to bear, the cliches were freakin' brutal. From the opening scene when he's in the room with the hot babe and the fireplace you see everything that's coming. Violante Placido was almost worth the price of admission herself because she's so exquisite but she had to be because her character had no personality. Brutally bad movie. ... Read more
This movie was boring! Don't waste your money! No thrill, no suspense, sorry George
How could this movie recieve a 3 star rating? My wife and i went to see it yesterday and it was one of the largest waste's of time and money that we have ever experienced in a movie theater!! It should have been rated X for all of the nude and sex seens. The worst part of this movie is that it was boring and stretched out beyond belief. George Clooney has really dropped in our opinion rating,and we will not be sucked into one of his movies again!... Read more
