THE AMERICAN 2.75*** (almost 3.0***)

Before anybody goes to see "The American," let me give you a heads up. If you are expecting another Jason Bourne or James Bond-style of movie with a lot of action sequences ,you may want to stay home. The advertising campaign and previews give you the impression that George Clooney is taking on a role in a movie like Liam Neeson did in that marvelously powerful thriller "Taken". But that is not the case. "The American" was shot on a foreign location (Italy mostly), features a lot of foreign dialect, and was made by an Italian director with a mostly Italian cast. In other words, it's not really an American action film. It's an Italian melodrama.

We know and find out very little about our lead character (George Clooney) who goes by two names: Jack and Edward. All you know is that he's a trained killer, somebody hires him to custom make a special rifle for an assassination, and that's about it. Clooney is an American sent into an Italian town for a last assignment. While he is doing the work which is meticulous, he’s tries to avoid being killed by other trained killers who are after him for some unknown reason, and begins a special relationship with a beautiful prostitute….his almost only human contact is with prostitutes because in his line of work, there is too much risk in having any friends.

He does not relish the work, but is driven to do it well. This also requires that he constantly distance himself from others. Jack demonstrates this in the opening rather shocking scene set in Sweden in which his calculating actions are far more chilling than the frozen landscape where it takes place. Clooney, with an understated performance that registers mostly through his eyes and the tightening of his jaw, portrays a man who has literally grown afraid of human attachment. Here, Clooney is at his best when toggling between extremes - when urgency is required, he tacks toward watchful; when things seem mellow, he's on the verge of jumping out of his skin. It's been a while since he's let himself be alone at the center of a storm like this, and with his gun-metal gray hair and gaunt appearance, he's a far cry from the jovial ringmaster of the "Ocean's Eleven" films.
Rated “R” for strong violence , simulated sex including full female and partial male nudity, gory and bloody imagery, and scattered strong sexual language (profanity). Running time: 105 minutes.

Clark