Movie Review: Despite the visuals, 'The American' is mostly a banal affair

The American (2010) Dir: Anton Cobijn. Rated R for violence, sexual content and nudity.

This film is currently playing in the U.S. and Orange County theaters.

In this new thriller directed by Anton Corbijn (Control), George Clooney plays Jack, a lonely assassin holed up in a small Italian village to escape from Swedish assassins. There, he has been assigned by his contact, Larry, to deliver a weapon to a Belgian woman assassin, Mathilde (Thekla Reuten). Despite shady people still trying to kill him, Jack befriends a local priest Father Benedetto (Paolo Bonacelli) and develops a romance with a prostitute, Clara (Violante Placido).

This film seems to attempt to prove that “less is more.” I tend to agree with that idea quite a bit. Unfortunately, in this particular film, I felt “less” was too little. Perhaps it’s a matter of taste, or it could just be that with my approach or “baggage” (or personal preferences or tastes I’ve built up over time) I bring to this somewhat subtle and quiet film, wasn’t quite suitable enough to result in my full enjoyment of this film. It could be that I have seen many films of this genre and one can’t help but bring comparisons to other films that have been influencing each other for some time now. With that said, I felt the film didn’t bring anything particularly new, yet I did like the mood, acting, and certain other aspects of it.

The first thing I’ve noticed with this film is the pacing. It’s relatively slow. In the beginning, there is some tension, and one begins to fill in the blanks of who Jack (Clooney) is as he effortlessly offs an assassin. The rest of the film focuses on Jack, a lonesome assassin whose job not only makes him feel more suspicious of others, but tends to keep him from having close relationships. His relationship with Father Benedetto is a interesting one as their conversations bring out some of the moral conflicts of the character. I found it amusing how Jack referred to himself as a photographer when asked what he did—photographers and hitmen both “shoot” people, after all. Har. Har. Nevertheless, I wished the film explored more deeply with some of the conversations—it appeared as if the film always cut away whenever Jack was asked an interesting question (Yes, I get it, it’s more about the questions, not the answers).

It’s fun to see George Clooney play a hitman, someone closer to a serious bad guy. With his gray hair and cold efficiency, I was reminded of Tom Cruise’s hitman from Collateral, but not quite as quirky. Despite his fine performance, the character of Jack isn’t written in such a way that challenges Clooney to really stretch. He is mostly one note, usually mysterious, and rather serious—which, I suppose, is expected from a professional assassin. And, Jack is a quiet character. Perhaps a tad too quiet given that Clooney’s strength’s tend to be his delivery of his wisecracks. Still, the little quiet moments where we see Jack in action, where he constructs a weapon out of car parts, and emotional expressions bring out his character where the words don’t quite do.

I enjoyed the European locale of this film. The village, seeped in culture and textures, are beautiful to look at. The whole film has a 70’s sensibility that is refreshing in contrast to the many “hip,” modern, fast-cutting, zippy-paced, technologically-advanced thrillers. The film uses blue tints, with occasional contrast of orange colors, all of which give a cold mood to the film, a parallel to the cold character of Jack.

A chunk of the actual plot of this film is shrouded in mystery and doesn’t always fit together. We don’t know who the assassin’s target is, who the Swedes are, and other vital information which may’ve helped in bringing some tension to the story. We do know that people are trying to kill Jack, but why are they, really? True, there is some cool little attention to details, like how Jack makes a weapon and small, subtle moments of Jack’s day to day life, but never the really important information. There are also few action scenes in this film.

Overall, I felt the film wasn’t particularly thrilling. The action is sparse, but the film isn’t really about that. George Clooney does a good job of playing someone different from his usual roles, but his character isn’t anyone particularly new to the genre. The story elements are vague at best, which I found unfortunate because I would’ve loved to see a well-plotted thriller to compensate for the pacing, like let’s say, Clooney’s other film, Michael Clayton. During most of this film, I was hoping for something to happen, a reveal of some sort, generally something that will bring the film together. Well, I was left with more questions. The title of the film, The American, is also a mystery. I won’t get into that.

My Rating: ** out of ****
 

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