Directed by Anton Corbijn. 105 minutes.
Starring George Clooney, Thekla Reuten and Violante Placido. Released by Focus Features.
Anton Corbijn’s slow burning The American draws its inspiration and style from Jean-Pierre Melville’s classic hitman-with-a-soul drama Le Samourai, but its mood is all its own. Those who the director’s Ian Curtis film Control will recognize the work of an original voice who is crafting out his own style of filmmaking. In the picture, George Clooney plays the titular character, whose name may be Edward or Jack or neither, in a much darker performance than to which we are accustomed. Even when playing flawed men – whether it be Michael Clayton, Syriana’s troubled CIA operative or Up in the Air’s Ryan Bingham – Clooney brings a certain charm to the role. But in Corbijn’s chilly vision of a conscious at torment, Clooney plays a man who either has no emotion at all or hides it very well.
At the beginning of the film, the hitman makes a move he regrets after nearly being assassinated by a rival. He escapes from the snowbound Swedish town in which he is hiding out to go do more of the same in an Abruzzi town in Italy, where he is also to complete an assignment. But his task this time out is not to kill anyone, but rather to assemble a weapon for a female assassin who has her own assignment to carry out. Clooney’s character is cordial to the extent that he must be cordial, but also keeps his finger on the trigger of his gun at virtually all times. An especially tense moment includes the trying out of the assembled weapon.
Of course, a woman comes into the picture – in this case, an Italian prostitute whom Clooney visits during the evenings. The film does not follow a clichéd path and the hitman’s emotions are barely glimpsed on the surface. An interesting friendship is also struck up with a local priest who calls out the hitman for the façade he is keeping up, but cannot quite place the American’s line of business. Is the assassin being followed and should he trust his employers?
The American has less in common with most studio films that require little attention and are seemingly made for people with Attention Deficit Disorder. There is some violence in the film, but it is not on-hand for the purpose of excitement and there is tension in the movie without it ever fully developing into an all-out thriller. In fact, the film’s European sensibility gives it more in common with the work of Michaelangelo Antonioni, especially The Passenger, than most films about hired assassins. The picture is stylish, yet still feels sparse. We are kept at a distance from Clooney’s character, but still get drawn into his situation.
It’s been another loud summer’s worth of movies, so it’s nice to see the fall begin not with a bang, but rather a quiet, contemplative character study. Clooney picks his films wisely and, this time, he shows us something we haven’t seen. Many of his performances emphasize subtlety and he rarely showboats. In the case of The American, Clooney strips away the Hollywood star image and plays a man who is, by all accounts, pretty sinister, and yet, he gives him a certain humanity. He is a complex and fascinating character, which is a tribute to Clooney’s abilities. Moviegoers with a little patience and a taste for European- styled thrillers will be duly rewarded.