When I first saw the poster for George Clooney’s newest film “The American,” it looked like something out of the 1960s. Even more so, the figure of Clooney running with a gun in hand somehow reminded me of a 50-year-old Cary Grant. I guess my easily excited cinema-loving heart made me think this would be a movie like “North by Northwest,” but, man, was I wrong.
Being the only recognizable actor in the film, Clooney stars as Jack, a world-traveling hitman who botches a job in Sweden. After tying up all the loose ends, he retreats to a small village in Italy to hide out.
This plot as been worn out and done much better already. In 2008’s “In Bruges,” the exact same premise is done much more effectively with humor and witty dialogue. Even without the hilariously touching performances of Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, the film was able to hold the viewers attention with great shot sequences and action.
“The American” is missing all of those things. The movie is so quiet. There are an insane amount of scenes where Clooney is all alone, which obviously means he has no one to talk to. It was really hard to stay focused in a film where not even the quiet scenes had any music to break up the boredom.
The one good thing I can say about those scenes is that when he is alone, he handcrafts his own guns. The amount of time, effort and know-how it would take to craft something that took humans hundreds of years to create is pretty baffling, and it’s the only redeemable quality of the movie I can remember.
It might sound like I’m dishing out a pretty heavy dose of Haterade on Master George, but it’s only because I thought his movie was garbage. I quite enjoy the man. I mean, who doesn’t love “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” I think that’s what Clooney needs to get back into — comedy.
Since this is his only movie coming out in 2010, this will be a weak year for Clooney as far as movies go. After receiving the Bob Hope Humanitarian at the Emmys on Sunday, it’s clear he is a wonderful, giving human being. He just needs to concentrate on choosing film projects that give the audience something more than what “The American” gave me — nothing.