The American (2010)

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

How do you take a movie that has gorgeous scenery, explicit erotica, many murders, chases and betrayals, and STILL end up with 2 hours of boredom? Takes a master film maker to pull that off. First, the plot, such as it is, is inferential and inconsistent, and depends on ridiculous coincidences. But if you like excruciatingly long scenes of people brooding for no apparent reason, this is the movie for you. The hero just happens to be given all the parts and equipment he needs to construct a specific type of assassin rife. Now isn't that convenient? And how did all the heavy machinery equipment get moved to his apartment, or we to believe that all those long manufacturing sequences took place in an auto mechanic's garage? And no one came in to see what he was up to? And where did he acquire the ammunition? The closer you look at this movie, the more unbelievable it becomes. Three stars mostly because of the amazing Italian scenery and for Clooney trying to make something out of nothing. Nice try, but fail

Even in 2010 this film must have appeared a bit ( beautifully, gloriously) old-fashioned , like a homage to 70's 'european ' films; 'a gun, a guy, a girl, and you've got a film'. Many of the plot details are a bit improbable, and it's chock-full of genre cliches; a slippery old priest who seems to know more than his prayers, 'working girls' with no discernable clients, sinister emotionless blank-eyed Swedes commissioning crimes, gorgeous girls shed their clothes readily, cut-glass accents, ambivalent actions,.. . and George is having a midlife crisis and, maybe, the rebirth of hope. It's all good- provided you don't expect Liam Neeson/Daniel Craig and some building-shaking subwoofers. There'll probably not be many more films like this made-so enjoy.

George Clooney is not a bad actor, but realistically not great. But, this movie is boring. Imagine if we had a 70s Gallo director directing, without the Hollywood according department involvement. Maybe Tarantino. No, we get boredom. Writing and directing sucks. Acting is fine. Check out: don't torture a duckling, last man on earth, white zombie, Messiah of Evil, anything from fulci.

A good rule for movies is that more nudity = less action (and thus, less plot.) That rule holds true here. The movie has plenty of naked women (and a naked George Clooney or two). However, George Clooney's 2- named character escapes Sweden (later, we learn why) to sunny Italy so he can tell his boss he's quitting. By that point, we realize he's a paid assassin, so we all know he's not "quitting." All of the action is in the last 10-15 minutes (10, I think.) Until then, he sits in a cafe, talks with a priest, builds stuff (we do not yet know what until the last 10 minutes), and visits a local prostitute he has the hots for . . . but nothing happens (except nudity.) This movie was made because it has George Clooney; I can't think why he wanted to make it.