The American starring George Clooney (Michael Clayton, Up In The Air) was a movie I wanted to love but never really did. Clooney is a fantastic actor, but his films, at least to me, are hit or miss. Over the span of a couple of months in 2009, I watched both Michael Clayton and Up In The Air, and these proved to be two favorite films of his EASILY. I thought the days of Leatherheads, Burn After Reading, and The Men Who Stare at Goats were behind him. There certainly is an audience for these last three movies, judging by their modest box office revenue and mixed reviews, but I am not a part of that audience. I much prefer his action movies (Out of Sight), his adventure movies (The Perfect Storm), his smart comedy/dramas (Oceans 11), or films like Michael Clayton and Up In The Air, which are both as close to perfect as movies to get.
The American, directed by Anton Corbijn (a movie called Control being the only other feature film to his credit), had potential but never got off the ground. It was slow but not methodical. It had great acting but no chemistry among its characters. It had a plot but not enough backstory for us to care about the actions of its lead character. Its movie poster, with George Clooney running with a gun in his hand, disguises itself as an action film. Still, it’s a suspense and drama that you discover is also a mystery that cannot be confirmed until the end.
Clooney plays an assassin named Jack, who is looking to get out of the business. We learn it is because he wants to settle down with a woman and live an everyday life. In the film’s first sequence, Jack has to kill a woman named Ingrid, whom he was lodging with during his time in Sweden, after other would-be assassins track the duo down. It is unclear whether he clears her because she was in on giving up Jack’s location or simply because she knew too much. He tells his handler, Pavel, that she was not in on it, implying that he killed her instead because he had divulged too much in his attempt to be intimate with a woman beyond the physical aspect.
Jack informs Pavel that his current job will be his last job in Rome and involves designing a specific weapon for a woman named Mathilde (Thekla Reuten – In Bruges). She is beautiful and knowledgeable. Jack doesn’t ask her the reason for the weapon, but there is a comprehensive checklist that the two discuss. She knows exactly what type of customized weapon that she wants. It appears that Jack wants to connect with her on a similar level in which he connected with Ingrid but knows that is impossible. Instead, he visits a brothel and develops a passionate relationship with a prostitute named Clara to satisfy a much-needed desire to connect with a woman he lost with Ingrid and knows he cannot have with Mathilde.
This is enough to set up the story, and if I gave too much information, I apologize. I wish I had liked this movie more because I had high expectations. The biggest problem was that we didn’t know what Jack was like before what we saw in the opening scene. What was Jack like in the years, months, or even days before meeting Ingrid? Why did he become an assassin? How many jobs did he have? How many people did he kill? What were his reasons for killing them? What made him realize this couldn’t be a line of work for him anymore? Was this information omitted on purpose? It would have given me a better understanding of Jack’s character and thought processes for wanting out.
I recommend this movie, but there might be a lot of viewers who leave disappointed because of a variety of different reasons. I wasn’t the biggest fan, but some viewers who are less into character development might enjoy the slowly played-out storing. While it is slow, it isn’t dull. Could it have been? For sure. Clooney held the movie together despite his incomplete character. He didn’t overplay or underplay Jack. I wish I understood his motives better. This wasn’t a concern of director Corbijin’s. I want to note Sweden’s beautiful landscapes, particularly Rome, were spectacular.
Plot 6.5/10
Character Development4/10
Character Chemistry 5/10
Acting 9/10
Screenplay 4.5/10
Directing 4/10
Cinematography 9/10
Sound 5/10
Hook and Reel 7/10
Universal Relevance 5/10
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