The American (2010)
Dispatched to a small Italian town to await further orders, assassin Jack embarks on a double life that may be more relaxing than is good for him.
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I am a huge George Clooney fan and have enjoyed just about everything he's done but my God this film is horrendously bad.. The scenes of him being chased and the clip clop of his Florsheims pounding the pavement was laughable at first but grew to becoming almost annoying as the film was.. I'd pass on watching it but that's just MyTwoCent..!
I found it as interesting as watching paint dry. I kept watching the clock to see when it would be over. I finally gave up after an hour. Cooney is usually terrific no matter what the part, or movie, but he could not save this movie for me. It had no story, very little dialogue, and it was impossible to even tell what was even really what was going on. No background on clooneys character even , so the viewer was just thrown into the deep end wondering, and waiting, but to no avail. I obviously would suggest passing on this movie for something much better.
An assassin wants to quit. I expected a slow build up and frantic development. I got a frantic beginning and a slowly paced drama. The assassin is dead inside and starts to live again because of a woman. A priest nudges his thoughts. Unusual pacing and hardly any action.
Look I love Die-hard and Mission Impossible and , yes Beethoven .But you see a movie like this and you realize what the language of cinema really is. The deliberate use of the camera as a medium to tell a story not just to record images. The space to absorb the experience and appreciate the stunning cinematography.This is Day of the Jackal (the original) but in this case the assassin is not seen as just one dimensional. We really feel what this guy is going through without his having to tell us. Kind of reminds me of the writing of Elmore Leonard where the story drives the characterization. Here the camera does. This is similar in my opinion to the cinematic characterization of Scotty (Jimmy Stewart) in Vertigo.I watch a lot of Grade A junk because hey its fun. But then you hit a Tarantino movie or a Wes Anderson movie or HItchock film like Vertigo and you realize what cinematic story telling is.And when is Clooney gonna get some kind of Oscar. From a kid on an ER show to his movie chops he must get something out of it!