The American is the Anton Corbijn‘s adaptation of Martin Booth‘s novel A Very Private Gentleman, starring George Clooney, Violante Placido, Thekla Reuten and Paolo Bonacelli.

Plot:
After an attack on his life, an assassin (George Clooney) goes to Italy to hide out and to accept a job that is supposed to be his last.

Yeah, that plot description is really short. That’s because there’s not much more plot in this film. I was afraid that the movie would get really boring – especially after the trailer that was a monument to unexcitement. Surprisingly, the film wasn’t boring, though it wasn’t terribly engaging either.

 

After the trailer I was very hesitant to watch the film, but decided to give it a try because George Clooney knows how to choose his scripts and I’d heard good things about Anton Corbijn. And though this won’t become my new favorite film, it was a good watch.

And George Clooney really was great. He hardly says a word in the film – there’s generally very little dialogue – and it isn’t even necessary.

What really stood out for me, though, was the cinematography. The movie is wonderful to look at and the shots really take center stage.

But the film never really gets accessible. You watch and it’s nice to watch but at the same time, you don’t really care about the assassin, or any other characters for that matter. (Especially the female characters remain flat.) And ultimately, that leaves the film feeling lifeless.

Summarising: You can give it a try, but if you don’t, you’re not missing much either.