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Kevin Michael Vance
Writer - Portland, Oregon
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Title: THE AMERICAN
Director: Anton Corbijn
Year: 2010
Reviewed: February 11, 2011
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Rice Cake-Lowest Rating |
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I found, "The American", to be inextricably bizarre: not to mention the fact that it trumpeted, without a doubt, the two worst qualities I find in films - the act of being pretentious and boring. George Clooney played the cold, methodical hit man character well enough, but it lacked (and this is because of the writing, not Clooney's performance) a connection of sorts, whether that be human, or emotional; as an example, Jean Reno, as Leon in "The Professional". We got a real sense of who, he was not just by how he treated the girl, but rather, how he treated his plant. It was done subtly, and without pretense, and I think that's why it was so effective. Clooney's character has nothing to cause us, the viewer, to like or despise him. All we know is that he is a "cold-blooded killer", likes whores, and has no problem shooting them in the back of the head. Then, but of course, we have the asinine decision to make the subtitles as small and indistinct as possible. This was clearly done to create some artistic impression, but all it did was make me squint and hate the movie further. Capped off with a lackluster, anticlimactic, and again, boring ending "The American" is bad -- real bad. I think the fault lies solely on the director's shoulders; his choices seem to have been made for some aesthetic effect, which neither propels the movie forward, nor builds character, it simply comes off hackneyed, and ostentatious.
Save your money. Don't bother with "The American". It's a low-brow killer movie attempting to be worthy of an Oscar. I would instead, if I were you, re-rent, or re-watch, "In Bruges". My pick for best movie of 2008. Structurally, "The American", is the exact same story as "In Bruges", but the writing, direction, and acting of the latter is superlative.
"The American" gets a RICE CAKE review.
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