Saw 'The American'....

[FAST FRED]

.....via NETFLIX and I think it's worth a rental for those who read my comments and still believe it sounds interesting.

The Link

Not everyone will have the patience to enjoy such a slow-moving, sometimes dark, always enigmatic and still open-ended, I believe, hitman/romantic drama.

George Clooney is the only American (I believe in the cast or crew) of this very cryptic, very European movie, in the same sense that "Pulp Fiction" or "No Country for Old Men" are very cryptic, very American films.

You know, if "The Da Vinci Code" movie had been even half as cryptic as this flick, I might have thought better of it.

It just wasn't very cryptic for a film about a code.

In "The American," Clooney plays a master assassin working in Europe.

The movie has beautiful Swedish and Italian scenery, beautiful locations, beautiful people, beautiful cinematography, beautiful buildup of suspense, a beautifully languid screenplay, beautiful sex and beautiful violence.

All this, while George's excellent, multi-faceted performance holds everything together.

This flick is so much more satisfying and better realized than "The Tourist," starring Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp, if you can take the time.

That misguided movie simply couldn't ever make up its mind about its genre.

There's another, very good IMHO, assassination movie about an American in Europe called "Vantage Point," featuring Forest Whitaker.

The Link

However, it's made in a completely different manner using multiple (and I do mean multiple), fast moving, action-packed flashbacks to tell the story

But, most viewers probably lack the patience to enjoy that one too.

Either assassination story could have been told on film either way, fast moving or slow, and I found it fun to notice that.

So, give these two hitman films made using polar opposite cinematic techniques a try, if you're so inclined.

And, finally, notice the little CGI butterfly fluttering against the trunk of the tall tree in the background center of the closing shot, much like that rat scurrying at the end of "The Departed," to see how "The American" leaves the observant viewer with a mystery.

Or suggests the answer.

Anyone?

 

[OldHippie]

Your standard George Clooney action thriller movie. What's not to like? Better than "Up in the Air" (with the guns and chases), but not nearly as good as "Michael Clayton". I'll give it 3.1 stars.

 

[Texanne]

You said "George Clooney." That's all I need to know.

:we need an emoticon for lusting:

 

[general35]

Better than "Up in the Air" (with the guns and chases).

I thought up in the air was prob clooney's best movie to date. michael clayton was nothing more than a anti corporation propoganda piece.,

 

[Perham1]

It was ok to good, no better than that, and certainly not better than Up In the Air.

Too often in The American, there was no there there. It was probably filmed in Oakland, Italy. The movie tried to have a Euro feel to it, and it did have a feel, but it failed to pull it all together. I compared it to Ronin. I know Ronin. I like Ronin. The American was no Ronin.

Michael Clayton, another GC movie, was far better than The American.

 

[utmck]

Better than "Up in the Air", but not better than "Michael Clayton".

 

[Third Coast]

Haven't seen this yet, but I will. I thought Michael Clayton and Up in the Air were both great and very distinct films.

Clooney is a very good actor, but I think it's his presence that defines him as much as his acting.

 

[bevo barry]

Thumbs up from me, though I did not like the ending.

 

[Namewithheld]

Depending on exactly where in Italy it was filmed Clooney probably slept in his own bed for most of the shoot.

 

[Hornin Hong Kong]

I thought it was awesome. It took me a bit to figure out what happened in the end and *Spoiler*








How the female assassin died.