THE DARK KNIGHT RISES Mega Gallery Featuring 50 Images and 15 Posters
THE DARK KNIGHT RISES Secret Catwoman Poster Revealed
New Images from THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone Talk THE TOMB, THE EXPENDABLES 2, Their Careers and “Male Pattern Badness”
THE DARK KNIGHT RISES Set Visit Preview and 4 Awesome New Posters!THE AMERICAN Review
by Matt Goldberg Posted:August 31st, 2010 at 10:25 pm
|
|
 |
|
Never underestimate the power of smart directing and a strong central performance to keep a movie interesting. Anton Corbijn’s The American isn’t a film with momentum. It’s not rushing anywhere or even setting up a clear destination. It’s an austere, contemplative piece that holds tension despite rarely introducing an immediate threat. Corbijn’s skilled direction is matched by a thoughtful, quiet performance from George Clooney who plays a character unlike any he’s done before. The American is one of the more difficult films this year as it moves slowly, deliberately, and without any hand-holding. But the result is a rewarding picture that’s refreshing after a mostly disappointing summer movie season.
The American of the title is Jack (Clooney), a hitman who is living a seemingly idyllic life in Sweden which is quickly shattered when men come to kill him (for reasons never explained). Jack makes it out alive and hides out in a small, beautiful Italian village awaiting instructions from his contact on how to proceed. He’s given a job that requires him to build a specialized rifle for an assassination. However, his life remains in danger and Jack’s (justified) paranoia becomes more intense throughout the film.
During his time in the village, he begins a friendship with local priest Father Benedetto (Paolo Bonacelli) and a romantic relationship with a prostitute named Clara (Violante Placido). Only Clooney, with his innate charm, could play a character as cold and aloof as Jack and still convince the audience that people like Clara and Benedetto would want to spend time with him. Jack rarely smiles and he doesn’t make standard disaffected hitman quips (he barely even talks), but Clooney uses his tremendous talent to convey the complex emotions of his character.
Placido does a good job of providing the film with what little vivacity it has. Her chemistry with Clooney is essential in convincing us that Clara can get Jack to betray his instincts and trust some one. Less successful in playing off Clooney is Bonacelli. His stilted line delivery and the character’s heavy-handed dialogue are made especially awkward in a picture where every aspect down to the bullets fired is restrained and measured.
Jack’s taciturn and withdrawn demeanor is matched by Corbijn’s sparse, quiet direction. The American is a movie told with almost no flash or tricks, and yet it’s rarely dull. It’s fascinating how Corbijn is able to hold the audience’s attention while intentionally never engaging the viewer. It’s a tricky balancing act and while the film does become a little too remote and somber at times, for the most part it’s a hard-earned success.
Focus Features is trying to sell The American as an action-thriller, and that expectation is going to disappoint a lot of ticket-buyers. The film can be incredibly tense and the brief chases and gunfights are effective, but this movie is a slow burn. It’s about a hitman in an existential crisis as he feels death is about to close in on him and attempting to answer the question of whether he should even bother having a life. Corbijn and Clooney deserve great credit for crafting a film that’s far outside what the mainstream expects and which will catch a lot of viewers off guard. It meanders at its own pace, and walks perfectly in line with its protagonist’s emotional state. The film can at times be distant to its own detriment, but it never falls so far of course that it loses the audience completely. The American doesn’t try to lead and that’s largely why it’s so irresistible to follow.
Rating: B
Please Like Collider on Facebook
|
|
|
|
so it’s good but not that good.
The move is boooooooorrrrrriiiiiinnnnggggg been there, done that, seen that never see again nearly zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz half way through it.
The film is like a sombre painting. Melancholically beautiful and slow to unveil.
The acting is well executed and George Clooney expresses his emotions perfectly, even without proper dialogue, and that is admirable in an actor.
This caters more to an arthouse crowd, and making it mainsteam and putting Clooney in it, just gained the attention of people expecting action. Naturally they were disappointed, so I can understand the large amount of uncultured masses complaining in capital letters.
It was ok my rating ** out of *****
The American looks boring. I want to like George Clooney because he seems like a cool dude, but his movies all kind of suck. It’s always “look at me, I’m in a suit jacket and I have conviction about things they talk about on PBS!” or “look at me, I’m being quirky in this comedy that’s sooooo smart”.
Still, he has a few good movies. Here’s the TOP 4 GEORGE CLOONEY MOVIES:
http://www.digitallizardproductions.com/daily-fournication-09.01.10–top-4-george-clooney-movies.html
Whenever Clooney gets too uptight someone should hold up a picture of him in the Batman suit. The one with the nipples. His movies would be a lot more fun to watch if they did that.
Boring is an understatement.
the American is the WORST movie of the century. Clooney should be ashamed to take people’s money for this awful mess.
go fuck yourself. Learn to watch a decent movie.
hahahahahahahah what a load of bullshit! the movie was terrible. honestly the worst movie ive ever seen. there was no tension, no suspense no action no drama no comedy….nothing. it was a string of random pointless scenes to lead to a pointless outcome. however they did manage to throw a few random sex scenes in there just to make it awkward. i would suggest suicide over watching this movie.
if u liked this movie, u deserve to be shot in the knee caps kicked in the balls, raped by a mob of angry black men with AIDS and finally curb stomped by Kimbo Slice to the point of near death. at which point you while waste your life away as a vegetable in a hospital until you finally die of from the AIDS.
While SuckMyBalls comments may leave himself open to others questioning his maturity, and therefore his inability to “understand” a movie like this, I need to echo his opinion (while not as colorfully). I can appreciate a “slow burn”, quiet film, but it still needs to be a film with a purpose. This had no purpose, except leaving the audience staring at excruciatingly long, pointless scenes, intermixed with unnecessary sex scenes. I would have left the theater had I not been convinced that something interesting had to happen (eventually). I guess I was wrong, and was left very disappointed. I would compare this review to a piece of abstract art that one “tries” to interpret as something of significance, when in reality it is nothing more than an inkblot on canvas.
exactly my thought. the whole movie i was thinkin: there has to happen SOMETHING! until somewhere in the movie where he talked to the priest, i thought: what have i just been watching for the last hour (or something)….NOTHINNGGGGG!!! the movie didnt had a purpose! f*-en boringgggggg
Let me emphasise what is definitly an understatement made by Suckmyballs, so here it is again.. Suck thy balls. Awall22 you pompous snaggot. We can all see superb direction of this film whereby it captivated us till the end and click goes the light bulb – everyone thinks “wtf??!” “what a shyt farq of a film!!” “oh but it was quite artistic~ NOT!”
u didnt have to add the racist shit n there u fuckin craker ass wigga
In a word “Boring”
I am italian, and I have found the movie deeply offensive against my country. Among other things that I did not like, the main one is that the movie does not depict Italy as it really is.
Prostitution in Italy is illegal since 1958 (Merlin law) and we really regret and dislike it, there are not coin public phones probably since 1990 and we have much better cars (probably the one used in the film is a 1970 model).
The movie itself is flat,slow and fo sure not an action movie as it was promised to be.
I am sorry for Mr Clooney, an actor that I like, that got trapped in an owful movie.
You are idiot. Probabilly you don’t visit italy from many years…. In Italy there are many coin public phones. They are everywhere, even in little town.
My town, Viareggio (population 60.000 , has 45 coin public phones)!
You’re not very polite… are you?
cheers
Anthony
I’ve been having difficulty falling asleep lately but thanks to this movie, that has changed. I can’t wait for it to come out on DVD so I can tackle future episodes of insomnia.
Two of my friends and I just saw The American. George Clooney is one of our favorite actors. I’m sorry to say the movie was boring and confusing. It took all we had to sit and finish watching it. We are all college graduates, not just hometown girls so, please don’t judge us by our knowledge and education. In plain words, it was one of the worse movies any of us have ever seen. No offense to Mr. Clooney. Thank you.
OMG!!…. This is by far the most boring movie I have ever watched.
Good god, the last week of my life was far more exciting than this movie. I mean what what the director thinking when he decided to end the movie?
Most “one last job” movies are high-energy action flicks or thrillers driven by a veteran actor playing a character with a troubling back story, but Anton Corbijn’s “The American” operates as a character-driven mood piece, a precise and quiet visual portrayal of a man trying to quit his dangerous profession who is constantly haunted and pervasively paranoid.
Way different from the Clooney-led spy thrillers of the ’90s, “The American” broods and ruminates under the Corbijn’s precise visual style. Those expecting Clooney’s return to suave criminal mastery will find themselves waiting and waiting for this film to pop. It doesn’t. There is no mêlée of Bourne-style assassin-chasing amid the hillside towns of the Italian countryside, so for many, shots of Clooney doing push-ups and putting together a rifle will become tedious.
But “The American” doesn’t languish quite as much as it might seem, though it certainly does at times. After a jarring opening sequence in Sweden when Clooney’s character Jack realizes he’s being targeted, Jack quietly makes his way to Rome and then Abruzzo, where a job awaits him even though he’s clearly ready to quit and he’s still shaken from Sweden. Shots of him maneuvering the gorgeous countryside ensue as well as aforementioned exercise. In a town in the Abruzzo area, he meets Mathilde, his client, for whom he will build a custom rifle as that’s his line of work. In the process, he becomes close with a gorgeous prostitute named Clara (Violante Placido) and comes to believe he’s being pursued by the Swedes, causing paranoia to engross him.
Corbijn, who directed the 2007 black-and-white biopic “Control” about the short life of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis, possesses a calculated and engaging visual style. His shots are ideally framed and pull our eye everywhere it needs to go. Considering dialogue is sparse, the ability for a scene to say a lot without saying anything is crucial and Corbijn does just that. He also plays well off audience expectation for this genre and twists the story in fresh and interesting ways.
Corbijn and Clooney are clearly on the same page, even if it means the film puts too much emphasis on the non-verbal and the dauntingly slow build-up to the climax. As much as the emphasis is tone, tone and tone, we come to understand Jack (who later decides he’s Edward) extremely well and see his conflict between sticking to his sinful nature as a means to survive and just letting it all go because it bottles him up inside. You can critique the method all you like and complain about the film’s choice to lean towards drama instead of action, but Corbijn possesses a good measure of talent and “The American” will leave a profound impression.
- MooMovie Guy
More Reviews at Moomovie – 100% Free Best + Latest Online Movies.
This is the worst movie I have ever watch.
Hollywood just dare not say bad things about George Clooney.
Not many professional reviewer gave a true answer.
I wasted 2 hours of my life.
HORRIBLE!!!
This is the worst movie I have ever watch.
Hollywood just dare not say bad things about George Clooney.
Not many professional reviewer gave a true answer.
I wasted 2 hours of my life.
HORRIBLE!!!
ONE OF THE WORST FILMS I’VE EVER SEEN. SNOOZING IN NO TIME AND SO MANY IN THE THEATER WERE IN TOTAL DISGUST AS WELL………..ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ…..
im writing this comment while watching the movie and so farzzzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZ i ZZZZZ cant ZZZZZZZZ stay zzzZZZZzzzz awake zzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ….. bordzzzzz… cornyzzzzzz.. zzzzzzzzzzzz
I just saw it…..boring. For the love of God, DON’T SEE THIS MOVIE. I will sum it up for you: The trailer showed almost 95% of the action in the movie.
I just finished viewing this movie. One of the most disappointing films I have wasted $15 dollars on, so I’d like to ask Clooney for a refund!
The reviewer is bang on. I loved this movie – it was a visual relief from the mindless action flicks that have taken over the screens for years. It is a movie for someone who actually reads books, connects with the characters and thinks about them even when they are collecting dust on the shelf. Clooney was brilliant – I really felt for the character – and the fact that he was well aware he had squandered his life – the feelings of regret were palpable. It was a movie for thinkers – and it’s about time. I’m not surprised most people didn’t ‘get it’. If an individual does not sit and read regularly, they can’t sit still for more than 15 minutes – waiting for the next visual hit to do all the thinking for them.
It’s the very opposite of The Expendables — I enjoyed both — and for that reason is an excellent film all around. Although he dies in the end, he dies having learned to care for someone, to love and live, so it’s a redemptory movie too. A+
PURE CRAP!
Most Americans wouldn’t know a good movie if it bit them on the ass. It was a character study. Learn to appreciate subtlety, for Christ’s sake. I’m so sick of the idiots in this country. Stick to reality tv, you morons.
This movie is complete nonsense, leaves you very disappointed, there is no purpose to the story and has too many loose ends, that could have become interesting stories…. Probably trying to make a european style film… it just didn’t work…
What a shitty movie; what a waste of time and money… This is horrible and shocking; how come an actor with world renown movies makes a movie like this. Clooney go bury yourself….. I used to respect you but no MORE
This movie was unbearably slow. I’m open to a slower-paced, thoughtful and challenging movie, but this movie was bleak, dull, and unsatisfying.
Its seems that people don’t see good movies anymore while they look at it. Their minds are stuffed up with images they want to see of inpossible stunt acts, blood, shooting, cursing etc. It looks a little silly to me, those people.
The movie was a badly written idea that was never given direction or flesh. The ‘technical’ part of the film was inaccurate, the single plot twist was laughably obvious, and Clooney just looked constipated. Besides never explaining why people were out to kill in the first place, and why he shot one of the people in the beginning, the whole idea of this man’s job is idiotic. While the method of initially receiving the gun was unique, the weight difference between x ray film and a mini 14 is significant enough that someone would have noticed. His work on the rifle was a) assembling it b) threading the barrell. While the building of the silencer was interesting he just didn’t have the right tools to do quality work. It would have been less work to stuff a 2liter soda bottle full of steel wool and tape it to the gun for the amount of work it was going to get. Fingerprints all over the place. The tip off that he was the hit besides for all of the people trying to kill him was that the gun delivery could be moved at will. You don’t make explosive bullets with mercury. Mercury fulminate maybe, but not mercury. Other than that the movie was boring watching, waiting and driving with intermittent TNA or waking up suddenly thinking was going to kill him. The only thing accurate would be if he was supposed to be a spy. The movie, like the life of real spy is 99.9% boring with 0.1% action. If someone was trying to go artsie with this film they didn’t even manage that. What a waste.
The movie was a badly written idea that was never given direction or flesh. The ‘technical’ part of the film was inaccurate, the single plot twist was laughably obvious, and Clooney just looked constipated. Besides never explaining why people were out to kill in the first place, and why he shot one of the people in the beginning, the whole idea of this man’s job is idiotic. While the method of initially receiving the gun was unique, the weight difference between x ray film and a mini 14 is significant enough that someone would have noticed. His work on the rifle was a) assembling it b) threading the barrell. While the building of the silencer was interesting he just didn’t have the right tools to do quality work. It would have been less work to stuff a 2liter soda bottle full of steel wool and tape it to the gun for the amount of work it was going to get. Fingerprints all over the place. The tip off that he was the hit besides for all of the people trying to kill him was that the gun delivery could be moved at will. You don’t make explosive bullets with mercury. Mercury fulminate maybe, but not mercury. Other than that the movie was boring watching, waiting and driving with intermittent TNA or waking up suddenly thinking was going to kill him. The only thing accurate would be if he was supposed to be a spy. The movie, like the life of real spy is 99.9% boring with 0.1% action. If someone was trying to go artsie with this film they didn’t even manage that. What a waste.
Well lets atleast say that the resume is very well written and gives one some idea of what the movie is all abt
So I would like to give this a legit review, It has its ups and downs, but overall it is quite boring. Its slow paced, and there seems to be some things that I dont understand, if you are going to have a trained killer, who is supposed to be amazing, why would you set the movie in a sleepy little italian town.
So overall the movie is quite borning with some good parts.
2/5
for those of you looking for a good movie. I liked Zombieland, Taken, Felon, and scott pilgrim, among a few. I find if IMDB has given it over 7, it is usually a decent flic
I agree this movie was very long and pointless. I enjoy movies with good stories, and I read some of the comments comparing this film to a good book that makes you think. Seriously?
This movie would be like reading a book with every other chapter torn from the binding and thenn trying to make sense out of it. Horrible film.
INSANELY BORING, SLOW, CHEAP and POINTLESS!!!
I am not kiddin but they could make that movie for LESS than 100.000$ and in less than a week
A REALLY HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE….Even if some would pay me 1000$ to watch it again…I’ll say NO
The only and only good thing with this movie is the TITLE, that’s it!!!no more
Holy smoke. You guys. If you didn’t like the movie, why write about it.
I LOVED it. But that’s because I’m prepared to look for something beyond the spoonfed garbage that Hollywood usually dishes up for concentration-impaired adrenalin junkies.
There was a lot to like in this movie – but not if you’re into cheap thrills. Go and watch Fast and Furious if you’re into that. Something a three-year-old can follow.
My thoughts exactly. Loved it.
ok to all the loser nerds who liked this movie ur lives must be really boring that you enjoyed this movie. who the hell watches a moive to study a character??!!! we want to be entertained thats why we watch movies. This movie was just sooo pointless and was just dumb and waste of time. The movie is easy to understand and you could see it comming through the whole movie. The movie was just dumb and needless and a waste of fuking time.. had no action…Toy Story 3 had way more action than this piece of garbage…this movie is not even an intelligent story. Oceans 11 now thats what you call an intelligent movie. The best part of the movie were the sex scenes thats how lame this movie was
My girlfriend is making me watch this now…HELP!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOooooooooooo!!
You guys who are saying this is a good movie can seriously eat a load of shit. Don’t say Americans are spoonfed garbage and we can’t tell a good movie apart from a bad one. Obviously you haven’t seen thrillers like Taken or other movies like Good Fellas that are on top. Reguardless if it had “character analysis” which is a bunch of shit, it had no plot whatsoever, no reasoning either. It was a bunch of random sex scenes, prostitutes.
The only funny part is when the lady gets shot in the face and he’s asking her questions as if she can actually answer him. That made me laugh for about 10 minutes.
If I actually paid to see this in the movies I don’t know what’d I’d do.
Thanks to the stupid jew who wasted 37 million on a horrible movie. He should have used that on toilet paper to wipe off all the shit he’s full of.
this film is very realistic,it shows the lonely life of a spy,…there is no jason bourne or james bond type of life,i think this is a great arthouse film,it’s meant for film fanatics,…not big audience…4 stars out of 5
I was going to register my surprise that Mr. Goldberg seemingly failed to notice the obvious allegorical angle of the movie… then I read the comments. Now I’m just relieved there are still Americans who can piece together coherent sentences.
Just rented this movie…….Not so sure if I want to waste the time to watch it! It looked good when watching the preview but, now I have my doubts…..I do like movies that you actually have to think about to enjoy so maybe i’ll be one one of those who appreciate it. Who knows. Wish me luck!
It was a classic character study film that focused on an assassin’s struggle with his conscience, and emotional pain as he realized how empty his life was and how the women he used for cover gave him the most in his life.
No it was not an action film, not one exploding car, but it wasnt really that kind of film. I guess if there is a mistake it was in the marketers calling it that kind of movie.
I really liked it, though I can understand why some did not as they expected a different kind of movie.
N oneed for a bunch of monkey-poop-throwing hysterics folks.
My husband rented it from Netflicks…. I have to say I appreciated its quality of foreign film attempt. Clooney never smiled, not once, or maybe he did when he said “I love you” in Italian. They depended a lot upon the beautiful body and boob job of the actress, who I liked but c’mon, enough boobs every other scene. I think whomever wrote it is a good and thoughtful writer, but needs a little more explanation about some characters, like the gun lady who got blown away by the fixed rifle at the end.
“W” the gun was rigged by “Jack” as he figured that the “Hit” was on himself. In one of the scenes, he is seen removing the gun from the black briefcase and also removes a bullet cartridge to replace the bullets with dud bullets, hence it exploded in her face. As for the rest of the ‘critics’, can and play with your DS or playstation. It’s obvious you’re a bunch of idiots if you didnt understand the movie.
46765.. Peachy
Yearn btw not an ash holder for crying out loud.. Lovin the iPad spellcheck.. Should have proofed before I sent. Fat fingered the yu together …
This movie was terrible