The Films of Anton Corbijn

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The American (December 10/10)

Based on a novel by Martin Booth, The American follows an elite weapons dealer/assassin (George Clooney's Jack) as he arrives in a small Italian village after some trouble on his last job - with the film subsequently (and primarily) detailing Jack's day-to-day activities within his new environment (which includes a tentative romance with a local prostitute and a series of business meetings with a mysterious client). Director Anton Corbijn has infused the proceedings with an almost impossibly deliberate pace that's sure to leave certain viewers checking their watch on an all-too-frequent basis, yet there's little doubt that The American remains oddly compelling even through its more overtly uneventful stretches - with Clooney's expectedly magnetic performance certainly going a long way towards establishing and perpetuating the movie's consistently captivating atmosphere. The initial emphasis on Jack's decidedly mundane endeavors - ie he eats dinner with a priest, he meets with the aforementioned client, etc, etc - proves instrumental in transforming the character into a surprisingly compelling and sympathetic figure, which inevitably does heighten the suspense once the tense and thoroughly engrossing third act rolls around (ie the viewer can't help but actively root for Jack's success). And although Corbijn's refusal to offer up even a kernel of exposition is admittedly a little frustrating - ie who are these Swedes that are after Jack - The American is, in the final analysis, an impressively stirring piece of work that cements Corbijn's place as an up-and-coming filmmaker worth watching.