The American

Here is a gripping film with the focus of a Japanese drama, an impenetrable character to equal Alain Delon's in "Le Samourai," by Jean-Pierre Melville.

He's (Corbijn) a patient, fastidious filmmaker with a great eye-ideal for his subject here-but his austerity doesn't entirely erase the suspicion that he doesn't have much on his mind. His film is a triumph, but it may be a triumph of style over substance.

Crisp, compact and cryptic, The American is a standard-issue hit-man thriller tailor made for George Clooney.

It's a tale so used, abused and broken you can hear it wheezing.

George Clooney produced and stars in this international spy thriller, which he probably thought of as existential but which registers onscreen as a giant bore.

This story of a hit man who wants out after performing this one last job is so threadbare, trite and predictable that not the star's formidable charisma nor the considerable talent of director Anton Corbijn can come close to erasing its deficiencies.

A pretentious Euro-snore that should occasion a fraud prosecution for any marketer who calls it a thriller -- and which stars an actor who seems to wish his name were Jorg Clooné.

Anton Corbijn's "The American" is one of those rare films that come along only once in a great while. Corbijn's has blended a methodical tale of redemption blending it with the meticulous characterization and absorbing pace of such films as Jean Pierre-Melville's "Le Samourai"(1967) or Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner"(1982). Corbjin has crafted such a quiet dialogue driven film with such lush and bleak cinematography that accentuate the dark yet emotional nature of this engrossing character drama. The way he uses colors to highlight the darkness like using green lighting in the dark alleyways or reds in a brothel, how he uses mute grays during the day to give this film an air of foreboding and dread, how death looms around every corner, how at any moment someone could die, he could die. Corbjin and screenwriter Rowan Joffe deftly combine old school drama, techniques, and characterization with modern day style filmmaking to construct a story that not only delves deep into the psyche of a professional assassin but also delves into the psychological aspects of the human condition. How death can play a very important part in how we live our lives and how we choose the path that we will follow for the rest of our days. "The American" is one of the best films of 2010, not solely based on its technical merits but on the merits of its intricately woven story of death, love and life how it spins the of-told story of an assassin trying to escape his life of death. This is a beautifully haunting film. A film that has been grossly overlooked due to its slow pace and lack of explosions, wall-to-wall action that is not what this film is about this film is about life, about love, about death and what is important in life. "The American" is the intelligent moviegoers film a film that must be looked at for more than what it is on the surface. Seen for the dark, methodical psychological outlook on human nature that it is This is one of the very best of 2010 and one of the best throwback drama-thrillers I have seen in a long, a true and shining statement that there is still some magic left in the movie business. "The Americanâ

The American is just a little too poorly paced. It is not necessarily boring, but for a film that is under two hours in length, it really, really drags. George Clooney turns in an understated, cool, and calculated, performance in the lead role and the cinematography from Martin Ruhe is absolutely breathtaking. The mise en scene as a whole is fantastic and the score is lush and brilliantly composed. While the pace slacks, the direction from Anton Corbijn otherwise is pretty good and he has tight control over this tense thriller. Beyond this, it often feels as though the film's plot is just Clooney walking and driving around Italy. While there is obviously more to it, the plot is just far too subtle and practically non-existent. The American is a beautiful film that really has fantastic technical aspects and is well-acted, but is just not necessarily my thing.

A great film that relies solely on George Clooney to provide the fantastic performance to lift this film from being mediocre to being a good one. Extremely watchable though I would advise that it can drag on in certain places.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Do I even have to explain what's wrong with this movie? It's extremely boring. I'm not against art-house action movies. I enjoyed Drive, and loved Hanna, but can the American even be called an action movie? I'll admit that I stopped watching after a while and didn't finish it, but after nothing happens for more than an hour did I really need to? This is not a thought provoking or suspenseful film as some have claimed. It's mega pretentious and miserably boring. Sure, it's well filmed and has a pretty location, and nothing's wrong with the acting, but something has to happen in order for a movie to be entertaining. I hate movie's like Revenge of the fallen that bombard you with empty action and have nothing else to offer, but this movie bombards you with empty nothing and has nothing else to offer, which might be even worse.