Review of The American (2010) by Mikemo — 02 Sep 2010

Loved the cinematography, the actress playing Claire was played well (although we didn't buy that anyone that looked that young and beautiful would be in a generic bordello), and the scenery was amazing. What was missing was a compelling plot. Specifically, why did Clooney's character attract Claire? Other than Clooney's supposed bedroom prowess, what convinces me that those two forge such a intense emotional commitment? Lots of slow reaction shots, signifying deep internal turmoil but primarily functioning to provide opportunities to catch up on lost sleep.

Also, how obvious can things be? Clooney goes to a a bar/diner nightly, one night "a friend" drops off an envelope with info on the murder at the beginning of the movie that he is running away from. And someone is very obviously tracking him, but we wait for a third of the movie before something comes of it. And when it does, his handler tells him to sit tight, even though someone is out there trying to take him out and knows where he is. The final fifteen minutes were very well done, and were very touching. Too bad so much of the movie took so long to get there - if the rest of the movie had moved a little bit faster and had spent more time developing the characters vs. long shots of scenery, gun assembly, and the like.