Review of The American (2010) by D4U7211 — 11 Sep 2010

AWFUL. I know that when it comes to critiquing anything, if you give media an extreme rating like a 10 or 0, you'd better have good reason, otherwise you didn't take the time to think through the pros and cons.

Sadly, I couldn't find anything I liked about this movie. Not ONE. George Clooney's appearance in this movie made hardly and difference. His acting was dry, emotionless, and just plain boring. All I could think about was: "Oh. Look, it's Clooney" through the entire abomination. He in no way delivered any kind of character of his own. Aside from this, the storyline itself was atrocious. Being based off a book doesn't make a movie good. Nor does it make it bad...it's how the book is interpreted is what really makes the movie. If anyone were to use a book with this sort of slow, serious plot (no, I have not read the book myself, only heard reviews) with vivid language and intense literary depth to make a movie, they'd better make it beautiful. This is not the case with The American.

The trailers decided to play the movie off as if it were some action-packed shoot-em-up with George Clooney, with guns blazing and epic cutscenes that were sadly the ONLY bits of action through the entire film. The only thing I personally would applaud is the cinematography. But alas, this is completely ruined with the stale acting, poor dialogue, unnecessary scenes, limited character connection and development, little-to-none thrills and awful kick-in-the-crotch bad ending.