George Clooney is "The American"

To borrow some of the many cliches other reviews and promotional ads have used The American starring George Clooney is a "taut action-thriller" where Clooney is "like Bond". The Newsweek review called it a "bait-and-switch" and MSNBC hints at a similar thought in their The American review, saying it "turns out to be an 'art film'" although in a mocking tone.

It seems that a lot of the press and indeed a good portion of the movie-going public may have expected too much, or in actuality expected too little from a George Clooney film. Viewers expect the same old George, affable and charming, and while that is definitely on display in portions of the film, by the end of the film's opening sequence the audience should understand the contract they have signed with their ticket purchase. The shocked gasp from the older couple down the row from me was good indicator the crowd had too many preconceptions of this George Clooney film.

Still, like someone in a doomed relationship the audience I viewed The American with stuck with it as if they were going to somehow change their experience to the one they expected. That change does not come. Many reviews and discussions have complained about the pace of the film, again with Newsweek calling it "Jason Bourne on Ambien". In actuality what you have here is film that is purposeful, even methodical in its execution. The main character is hunted and unsure and hoping against hope for change. Every piece of dialogue and somber or tense facial expression, which Clooney uses with skill, serves the movie well and moves the film forward apart from a love scene that feels like it goes on for a little too long.

Imagery and Musical Score

The cinematography (Italy & Sweden) is excellent and only enhances the muted tonality of the film. It's sweeping vistas are beautifully accompanied by quietly expansive music from German musician Herbert Grönemeyer. Similarly the sequences in the small town of Abruzzo, with their claustrophobic feeling, add to the tension which Clooney's character feels and are equally enhanced by the Grönemeyer score.

This is the Clooney of Up in the Air and Michael Clayton, only darker and more subdued, and some film-goers will not be able to handle this, nor will they be able to handle the slow boil towards an inevitable conclusion that we hope will not come. Still while those with expectations left confused by their experience, I left enjoying the expanded range and nuance of Clooney's performance. In the words of T.S. Eliot:

"This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper."

Newsweek The American Review by Caryn James. 2010

MSN Entertainment The American Review . 2010

The Hollow Men. T.S. Eliot