REVIEW: George Clooney, The American Prove They Do Make Movies Like They Used To
There's another girl in Mr. Butterfly's life, a prostitute named Clara (Violante Placido, who happens to be the daughter of Simoneta Stefanelli, the actress who played the Sicilian woman Al Pacino marries in The Godfather -- those tragically beautiful genes carry on). As Placido plays her, Clara is wary and detached at first -- like Jack, she's a professional above all. But she seems to sense through her fingertips -- and, eventually, other places -- that Jack is reaching out to her, and she responds with a mix of practicality and compassion. She looks after herself just as he looks after himself; at some point, they'll have to meet in the middle.
Watching The American, it struck me how unusual it is, in contemporary movies, to see a love scene involving a man and a prostitute that's both carnal and tender. The unspoken wisdom is that these things have to be presented as something tawdry and dirty, because, heaven forbid, we're not supposed to approve of them.
But even Corbijn's approach to nudity is refreshingly nonjudgmental and unfettered; he isn't looking for approval or disapproval, but simply to draw out feeling. Before the screening, a colleague and I wondered aloud why the studio releasing The American, Focus Features, waited until two days before the movie's opening to show it to critics. The assumption most critics make when a studio "hides" a movie is that it's lousy. But as we waited for the movie to start, I suggested that maybe Focus had kept the movie from us because they had something with no rapid-fire editing or shaky-cam, because the story makes sense, because the visuals show some thought and some care.
As it turned out, that's exactly the kind of movie I found The American to be. And in this climate, how is a studio supposed to sell that? The movie's distinctive qualities aren't the sort of thing that generates buzz, and I'm beginning to fear that even word of mouth, of the "It's boring" variety, may come to hurt it at the box office. Perhaps that's what happens to a movie that asks you to see instead of just look. I hope not.
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Well, you just convinced me to go watch it.
me too, totes. the grass roots campaign starts here...
I don't know... there's a lot of apologizing for liking this film throughout the review. Maybe it's just a Clooney crush.
The film reminds me of some of the Depeche Mode videos directed by Corbijn, particularly "Enjoy The Silence" and "Strangelove":
http://www.depechemode.com/video/music_videos/26.html (Enjoy The Silence);
http://www.depechemode.com/video/music_videos/18.html (Strangelove)
I adore TWO LANE BLACKTOP. And I have a soft spot for THE PASSENGER. I know FOR CERTAIN my dear friend Pauline Kael is sticking out her tongue at me, but I love most of Antonnoni even though it's true he has ONLY one MASTERPIECE, L'AVVENTURA & the rest is (fun) trash....a word PK often used. The blow-up sequence of BLOW UP is masterful. Years ago, after dinner with PK, her good friend Veronica Geng ( who wrote brilliant, funny short stories for THE NEW YORKER) & I took a walk Uptown, and we both confessed to each other our love for Antonnoni. We both swore never to let PK know although i did! In ECLIPSE...MONICA VITTI AND ALAIN DELON up there in that plane and all those clouds....well, pleasure is pleasure. Pauline's tag line for the movie was SOME LIKE IT COLD. PK is exactly right, but still........what a fun, fun movie. It depressed the holy hell out of me. I wrote PK a long letter after I saw this movie...and she wrote back saying my letter was "gorgeous." I think Pauline was sincere.
Can't wait to see CLOONEY in this movie...
I just got back from seeing this POS. I'm sure there was a story there, at sometime, maybe in pre-production, but it didn't make the final cut. I have also never seen Clooney this one-dimensional. Maybe some blaring Depeche Mode and more sweaty, angst filled, facial close-ups would have helped.
It was a very good movie, but not at all the type of movie it was marketed as. If you enjoy acting, you'll like this movie. If you enjoy watching shit blow up (as I suspect John Lake does) you won't like it. No spoilers, but this is not an action movie, or even a real espionage movie. It's a drama, and a small scale one at that. It's probably the best movie I've seen since the Ghost Writer.
I went to see this movie over the weekend. A very BORING movie.
Spot-on review. Minor movie, but a good one.
Dear God !!!! Finally, a reviewer that "gets it". This is a tremendous film with great feel, acting, action, romance, all done in the way of the great old foreign films. All the people saying it was boring are tasteless morons that need their action fed to them with a spoon. Go watch your mindless Vin Deisel movies.
This is certainly not a movie for "The Expendables" crowd (or the "Machete" crowd either).
Your review nailed it & I liked it for all the attributes you describe. (Note: I love all of the movies of Paul Greengrass which are pretty much the opposite of this one.)
It is very European in its pacing & attitudes toward other stuff Americans typically (ridiculously) shun.
I haven't seen Clooney look this glum since "Syriana" (or most of --the excellent-- "Up In The Air"), but that monochromatic emotional state makes sense for his character & works here. It's minimalist style does a great job at creating a foreboding sense of paranoia that builds throughout the movie.
(Sexist alert: And for red blooded blokes who play fantasy football, the women look great!)
I just saw The American. Probably one of the worst movies I have ever seen. The American is awful. Nonsensical, stupid and vapid.
This is by far the worst movie ever made.. No plot, no dialog, no story.. George Cluney drives around the Italian country side doing situps, making guns and sipping coffee all why uttering no more than 15 lines for 1 1/2 hours. I wanted to stand up in the middle of the mostly empty theater and ask if any one knew wtf was going on..
Gee Scott.. I guess your idea of entertainment is watching paint dry and the grass grow. You are a complete idiot if you think this was a tremendous film, you need your head examined. What was this movie about.. I dont know.. What was George thinking.. I dont know... What was the reviewer who loved this moving thinking.. I dont know.. Why in the world did you like this movie.. Because your a moron
I just cant stop myself from commenting on this POS movie.. Please dont go see this movie.. Here's a list of things that are more entertaining to do and cost less.
1) Watch your cat like his balls
2) Watch your dog like his balls
3) Watch your dog like your cats balls
4) Watch two old guys in the park play checkers
5) Watch two old guys watching two old guys in the park playing checkers
6) Watch two old guys watching a dog like a cats balls
I love George Clooney, and absolutely hated this film. I saw absolutely nothing redeemable--there was no acting, just Clooney looking great, no plot, no twists or turns-- nothing. Contrary to one reviewer who stated only morons who love action movies such as "The Expendables" wouldn't like this movie, not true. I am hardly a fan of shoot-em-ups, but I am a fan of plot, storyline, all the things that go into a great movie--this was not a great, or even a marginally good movie, unless you love Clooney enough to stare at him for an hour and a half.
What a horrible movie! Just rented it last night and it was so boring, absolutely had nothing going for it. It was so bad my husband wanted to personally write George Clooney and tell him how bad the movie was and his limited acting skills.
This is a critical, thoughtful review with subtlety and style--much like the movie itself. I too appreciate the tight editing, bare storyline, and minimal amount of dialogue. The visual and nuanced linguistic poetry is anything but boring. But somehow, the fact that a sophisticated movie released to a wider audience involving guns and standoffs can still be uninteresting to some folks may be more of a statement about the American audience than the film itself.
This was the worst movie I have ever seen!!! An hour and 1/2 I will never get back....terrible!!! Whoever thought this was a good movie is an idiot!
This typical european film simply has no plot or real story. No one knows why "Jack" is hired to kill somoeone let alone why the distant lady wants him to make her a super rifle. There is no reason that Jack always finds and kills strange men who find a way to track him down no matter where he is. The dark, menacing streets seem to be always void of other human beings, wonder where the are. Jack has a habit to peer through binoculars from his room to another town on a hilltop far away. . . looking for what?? Finally he kills the man who hires him, but there is no reason why he kills this guy. And to end the film, there is the dragged-out finale where Jack rushes to meet his whore girlfriend at a river, dying while doing so. So camp!!!!
I believe this is a really great movie, narrated with excellence.
I, my friends and their dads all loved this movie. After reading the brain-dead negative reviews, I'm feeling rather superior.