Gail sees a movie: The American
George Clooney shines in the moody thriller/character study The American. I would have liked more background, or any background on the characters, but this film eschews those explanations. The American is quiet and intense, although some may find the pace a tad slow. But this film kept me guessing at times and jumping at other times.
People keep trying to kill Jack (George Clooney). After gunfire interrupts his romantic interlude in Sweden, Jack runs to Italy, where more people try to kill him. He has brief phone calls with the mysterious Pavel (Johan Leysen), who seems to be his boss. Pavel wants Jack to do a job in Italy and promises Jack that, “this time, you will not even have to pull the trigger.” Although many in the film, including Jack himself, imply that Jack is an assassin, we only see him kill in self defense. While living in a small Italian town, Jack builds a super gun for female assassin Mathilde (Thekla Reuten) and they flirt mildly. Jack also forms relationships with Father Benedetto (Paolo Bonacelli) and prostitute Clara (Violante Placido). But this charming Italian town is teeming with would be assassins, and Jack does not know who to trust.
This is a quiet film, and Rowan Joffe’s screenplay (based on Martin Booth’s novel) provides spare, minimal dialogue that heightens tension but leaves much unexplained. Much of the story in The American is told visually, and director Anton Corbijn does a good job of keeping things interesting. The shots of Italy’s hills, lakes and forests are beautiful, and the winding cobblestone streets enhance the excitement of the chase scenes. I especially enjoyed the scenes where Jack is forced to escape his pursuers by riding a motor cycle on cobblestone stairs. Despite not knowing what Jack really does, who he works for and what drives him, I remained interested in his welfare.
George Clooney makes the enigmatic Jack likeable, which is a good since Clooney is on screen for almost all of this 105 minute film. We see Jack having dinner with a priest, surreptitiously receiving envelopes in cafes and meeting a client over cappuccino. We also see a half naked Jack having sex with a hooker and exercising without his shirt. No complaints here. But Clooney manages to give Jack depth, and infuses his lines with melancholy and restrained emotion. “I am not good with machines,” Jack tells Father Benedetto. But we see Jack fix the priest’s car and build a gun using spare automobile parts. We hear Jack tell Pavel that he wants this to be his last job, and sense that he doesn’t enjoy killing. Despite the sparse dialogue, Clooney gives Jack a gravitas that reminded me of Clooney’s portrayal of Bob Barnes in Syriana. Paolo Bonacelli injects humor into Father Benedetto, and the bags under his eyes give him a wise look. I enjoyed the scenes between Clooney and Bonacelli and wished the relationship between Jack and the priest had been further explored. Violante Placido is charming and light as Clara, the beautiful prostitute who captures Jack’s interest, and all of their scenes together were high points in this film.
I enjoyed Clooney, the rest of the cast and Italy while I watched The American, but I wanted to know more about Jack and his life. This quiet and atmospheric character study reminded me of Michael Keaton’s The Merry Gentleman. That film also explored the character of a killer, although more time was spent on the killer’s relationships and moral code. I did not get to know Jack as well as I would have liked, but I liked what I saw.
The American. Directed by Anton Corbijn. George Clooney (Jack/ Edward), Irina Björklund (Ingrid), Johan Leysen(Pavel), Paolo Bonacelli (Father Benedetto), Thekla Reuten (Mathilde) and Violante Placido (Clara) Focus Entertainment, 2010.
Gail sees a movie appears every Wednesday.
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Gail, Did we see the same movie?
While I agree that the movie was visually stimulating (Italy was simply beautiful) and the dialogue sparse, we obviously do not see eye to eye on the rest of the film. There was nothing entertaining about the film. It was quite predictable and more than a tad slow. There are some scenes that just did not make much sense, such as when he threw away a cell phone but called from a pay phone drawing attention to himself (not a good idea for a man on the run and trying to stay inconspicuous). The scene you describe where he is riding a “scooter” and chasing down a car is laughable; there is no way it would keep pace with the auto. By the way, a dead guy and shootout in that small town does not draw a single police officer to him? Really? First guy I am going to look at for that crime is that odd American fellow. Not until the end of the film do we hear the distinct sound of a European police siren but only after the would-be female assassin dies because Jack rigs the gun (don’t you think a real assassin would have inspected the gun??) and there are a couple dead people lying in the streets of this quaint village in broad daylight during a Catholic procession.
BTW, Jack built a silencer not a gun and he must have enjoyed killing as the bullet he put in his lovers head at the opening was a clear indication that he was cold blooded and without feeling. While I did not enjoy seeing George’s flesh, Clara was quite amazing in all her glory (probably worth the price of admission).
The 100 or so people in the theater agreed with my take, laughing at the ending wishing they never spent the $10. Luckily I used a gift card for our tickets. My wife disliked it so much she warned her friends on Facebook not to see it. Unfortunately one friend missed the post wasting her hard earned money and now regrets the loss of money and time from her life.
I do enjoy reading “Gail see’s a movie… “ each week, we just do not agree on this one!
Chao!
Walt, thanks for your comments and for reading the column. This is one of those films I enjoyed, but I can understand why others might not. I certainly understand all of your criticisms of the film. I was hoping there would be more of an explanation/payoff at the end. By the way, my spouse liked the film less that I did and more than you did. Thanks again for reading and writing.
Unlike Walt, I actually think I enjoyed the movie more than Gail did. I saw no joy whatsoever in Clooney’s opening actions. While we might have expected Clooney to have a stronger reaction in killing her. He seemed resigned more than anything else, perhaps wondering how he got to the point where he was capable of such a thing. This clearly sets up the larger tension in the movie between having to make a choice between love/humanity and his profession, and shows us how far from redemption he really is. (In case we miss it the first time around, the priest explains it all to us later on). Yes, we see him making the gun before he makes the suppressor (which he explains is not a silencer). And I have no trouble with the idea that a small vehicle could be more versatile than a car in getting around a town whose roads and alleys were mostly designed in an era before automobiles. I wouldn’t call the movie realistic exactly. It’s more fable like, and sure, I had make fun of the image of “Mr. Butterfly” flitting up through the tree at the end, but like most good noir films, simple characters and plot decisions were complicated by the protagonists dark past, the love interest being a prostitute, and the “job” being represented by an equally seductive, if somewhat icy femme fatale, and a lot of nuanced brooding. To be fair, I went to see the movie in the theater because I had actually hoped to see buildings blown up and people shot at with greater frequency. But I was glad I did see it there because of the scenery. I’m extremely pleased that George Clooney continues to get these dark, introspective roles now, where he doesn’t depend so much on the crooked smile and head bobbing that marked most of his career. I think the pacing, and even the lack of background was thoroughly appropriate. Just to be contrary, I’ll go so far as to say that it reminded me of a modern, thoroughly Italian version of Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le Samourai.
Thanks, Ted. Well said. I completely agree with everything you wrote about Clooney.
I for one enjoyed the movie. The book is good, and quirky and followed the movie as much as it would allow. The movie did have its nuances that if you didn’t know the reason for things you wouldn’t get it. Jack tossed the phone so he wouldn’t be tracked by its location. Though he could have taken out the battery and things would have been fine (for more on that read Killing Pablo and wait for the movie to come out). In the book he fashioned his own silencer and weapon as well.
Overall I thought it was good, but many in the theatre expected to see something more adventurous. Look for the book for info on Jack.
A very Private Gentleman.
Thanks for you common, Jean Batiste. I am glad I am not alone in liking this film. I will check out the book.