The American

"The American" is about an American craftsman named Jack. Maybe. Or maybe he's Edward. Who can know? Jack's/Edward's craft is killing people, either directly or by custom fitting a gun to the person who will pull the trigger. Clooney and the director, Anton Corbijn, take plenty of time to show us Jack and his life, much of the time without dialogue. As we learn, Jack's life is solitary by necessity -- having friends exposes Jack and his friends to other assassins bent on taking Jack's life.

The movie is full of good actors in supporting roles (Johan Leysen, Thekla Reuten, Violante Placido), but the movie is all Clooney's. He plays Jack as a very watchful man, not menacing at all, not overtly paranoid. You'd never pick him out although he sees you. I watched Jack drive to a mechanic's shop, stop the car, and take a moment to look out the window before getting out of the car. In my mind, he'd identified all the hiding places, found his escape routes, satisfied himself of his surroundings. Jack is not James Bond or Jason Bourne. There is no flash to Jack at all. He's a quiet, competent craftsman.

The issue in the movie is that Jack is getting old, he's losing his edge, and he's started caring more about the quality of his life than about the job. And his job demands 100% attention, 100% of the time. The penalty for failure is the ultimate. The summary of the movie is that we see Jack in hiding, he's found, he escapes, he's found again, he decides to retire after this one last gig - will he live to see it through?

And yet this remains a leisurely-paced movie. No big chases, no big car crashes, no big gun fights with automatic weapons. We get lots of lovely views of Italian towns and Italian countrysides. And mostly we get to see Jack ruminate. Clooney's showing of the thoughtful Jack is remarkably good. I saw Clooney play a similar role in Soderberg's "Solaris," but the character there didn't really reach out and touch me the way Jack did. I've said elsewhere that Clooney is at his best as maniacs in the Cohen brothers' films, but Clooney's work here is sanely excellent.

I liked the cinematography very much, I found the sound interesting (in one scene in a restaurant, Jack's hope for safety walks away - the ambient sound of the customers and street ceases, leaving only the sound of the retreating footsteps), and the use of music was creative and often amusing.

Some have found "The American" slow. It does have action, violence, and sex, but the thoughtful nature of Jack is paramount, and the movie is a pensive one.