The American

[3LB]

Another 'George Clooney makes a serious film' venture, this movie is a slow moving, brooding process. Not that The American was on my radar for going to the movies, but at least there was a Clooney movie out there to entice my wife, when she really wanted to go see The Other Guys with Marky Mark Walhberg and Will Ferrell. I'd rather read the novel Eat Pray Love then go see the movie and then rent Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants than to sit through another Will Ferrel movie.

Twern't that bad really. It was kinduva old school character study, which to me is cool to see a movie made that isn't edited for an ADHD audience with car chase scenes and explosions every 5 minutes. But there is a lot of brooding that could have been fleshed out a tad better. The director obviously wants us to take in the views, and boy howdy, is there ever some lovely scenery. Of course parts of this movie does require slight suspension of disbelief, as in some of that lovely scenery, but I respect what this movie represents and that's a return to character development and character study. Plot is a tad thin and straight forward serious. No twists and turns, or at least, no attempts at out of sequence surprises that fall apart upon close scrutiny, no attempts at ironic humor. All too often in modern movies, the premise of a movie and its collection of star personallities is the main focus, and cinematography is 'how cool the special effects look'. Not this movie. Here, an Italian village plays a major role and its filmed in a way that it seems to have a sort of unspoken dialog. I can only imagine this film will look stunning on Blu-ray.

For those looking for an action flick, you gotta long wait. For those who like it when the protagonists get together at the end of the movie, after a lot of destruction and mayhem, to trade quips and drink cocktails as the camera pans back...nope. For those who miss gratuitous nudity the way they did it in the early '70s foreign flicks...yer in luck. I'm not saying this movie couldn't wait for DVD or BD release, but it could at least stave off seeing some of the other late summer's dreck...just make 'em think it was their idea.

I liked what it represented
I didn't regret paying to see it
I recommend seeing it instead of several other choices
I hope Will Ferrell stops making movies

[Worf101]

Thanks for the sterling review. I must admit Clooney's about the only male actor besides Johnny Depp that could entice me to the movies on a regular basis. He's proven he's much more than just a pretty face. How does this compare to other somber thriller's like "The Spy That Came In From the Cold" and alike?

Worf

[3LB]

similar, but not as fleshed out, nor as complex. This is a simple movie. Like I stated before without giving up too much story, they could have fleshed out Clooney's character, but Clooney does do good job with what he has...which is a spartan amount of dialog. Its more of a modern update to Clint Eastwood's "man with no name" character - only its an Italian villa and not a sorta-Spanish one. Very '70s feel and ending.