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 ^[1]. 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 ^[2]. 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.