"THE AMERICAN" (2010) Review

 "THE AMERICAN" (2010) Review

There had been a handful of summer movies that I enjoyed in 2010. Otherwise, a good number of the Summer 2010 movies proved to be somewhat disappointing to me. But that did not stop me from looking forward to the fall/holiday movies of that year. One of those films happened to be a tight little thriller about an American assassin in Italy called "THE AMERICAN".

Directed by Anton Corbijn and starring George Clooney, "THE AMERICAN" was a film adaptation of "A Very Private Gentleman", Martin Booth’s 1990 novel about an assassin named Jack hired to construct a rifle for another assassin in a small Italian town called Castel del Monte. During his stay there, Jack befriends a friendly, yet observant priest named Father Benedetto; and falls for a young prostitute named Clara. He also tries to prevent himself from becoming the target of another assassin.

I must admit I had mixed feelings about seeing this movie. After watching it, my feelings about it remained mixed. One, I managed to predict the end of this movie before I even saw it. And I have never read Booth’s novel. The ending seemed even more apparent, considering the movie’s narrative and style. Two, the pacing struck me as being unnecessarily slow in some scenes. Now, I am not demanding that Corbijn should have paced "THE AMERICAN" with the same timing as any of the recent Jason Bourne movies. After all, it was basically a character study of an assassin who has come to realize that he has been in the killing game too long. But there were moments when the camera lingered too lovingly upon some of Jack’s more mundane tasks that I found unnecessary. One last complaint I have about "THE AMERICAN" was that Rowan Joffe’s screenplay never made it clear who was behind the attempts to kill Jack in Sweden and who had hired the assassin that stalked him in Castel del Monte. Mind you, I had a pretty good idea on the person’s identity. Unfortunately, the script never really made it clear.

But there were aspects of "THE AMERICAN" that I enjoyed. I found George Clooney’s portrayal of the world-weary assassin first-rate. In fact, I could honestly say that he did an excellent job in portraying Jack’s mixture of professional wariness, emotional bankruptcy and hopes of a romantic future with the prostitute, Clara. The role of Jack might prove to be one of his more interesting ones. Both Paolo Bonacelli and Violante Placido, who portrayed Father Benedetto and Clara respectively, gave Clooney excellent support. So did actress Thekla Reuten, who portrayed Mathilde, the assassin who commissioned Jack to construct a rifle for her. However, there were times when she conveyed the femme fatale persona just a bit too thick.

Joffe’s screenplay almost seemed to strike a balance between an in-depth character study and a small, taunt thriller. I say almost, due to the movie’s occasional slow pacing and a vague subplot regarding a threat to Jack’s life. But director Corbijn did effectively utilize some tense scenes included in Joffe’s script. The two best scenes featured Jack’s final encounter with the assassin hired to stalk him around Castel del Monte and the explosive finale that featured a slight, yet surprising twist.

"THE AMERICAN" has its share of faults. Nor would I consider to be one of the year’s best movies. But I must admit that George Clooney’s performance as the world-weary assassin, Jack, might be one of his more complex roles. And director Anton Corbijn did manage to strike a nice balance between an in-depth character study and a tense-filled action thriller. I could honestly say that "THE AMERICAN" proved to be one of 2010's unusual films.