THE AMERICAN
RYAN: There’s a new George Clooney drama in town, The American, and I didn’t love it.
CAROLINE: I’d call it more of a thriller, but without the thrills. I think maybe George just wanted to make this movie because it was largely shot in Italy, and he has a house there.
RYAN: That and the fact that he gets to do a hot sex scene. Even though this movie is pretty straightforward, it confused me. Almost nothing happens the entire time. It’s, in a word, slow.
CAROLINE: Really slow, and brooding. George didn’t crack a smile once. He did, however, get very skinny and ripped for this movie, as evidenced in the scenes of him doing push ups and pull ups.
RYAN: He was almost too skinny for me.
CAROLINE: He plays an assassin/gun designer who’s ready to retire. But we know nothing about his past, or why he wants to retire. As a result, I didn’t care about his character that much.
RYAN: Totally. We have no clue what his back story is, and the movie itself has very little plot. He has about 14 lines in the whole thing, and the other characters have three each. I couldn’t stand the lack of dialogue. Every shot lasted so long, and
the movie never took off. It was like a bunch of photographs strung together up on the screen.
CAROLINE: Well, that makes sense because the director is primarily a still photographer. And there was so little music punctuating any of the little action that the movie had. It just went on and on in silence for long stretches. There are four other characters that come in and out of his life, but you barely care about any of them either, except for one, who’s the love interest and very pretty.
RYAN: George plays a man doesn’t trust anyone, and you do feel a vague sense of a threat throughout the film. But there are maybe two exciting moments total; the rest of the time you’re just waiting for something to happen. All those slow, static shots added up to total boredom for me.
CAROLINE: The shots of the Italian villages and countryside are really pretty, and it’s definitely the kind of movie where you think, “Ooh, I’d like to be there right now.” I guess you could call it artsy, and I can sort of see what they were trying to do with this movie; but mostly I was underwhelmed. If this was a way for George to break away from his normal studio films, then he certainly has. Anyone who’s expecting to see the Clooney they love from Ocean’s 11 or his Oscar nominated movies is going to be sorely disappointed.
RYAN: I appreciate the fact that it’s a smart movie, and intense at times… but couldn’t the plot have been better?
CAROLINE: The ending is decent, but by then I just wanted to get out of there and get something to eat.
RYAN: Seriously. I was making to-do lists in my head. Then I was thinking about what I should have for dinner. And then I just wanted to chew off my arm.
— BOTTOM LINE —
CAROLINE: I don’t want to say it’s not a good movie, because it’s well made and well shot and the scenery is beautiful is some cases. But the story just drags on and on and I wasn’t sure what the point was. Overall, I was thoroughly bored but for one or two scenes.
RYAN: We both checked our watches several times. It might be one of the most boring movies I’ve ever seen. It kinda reminded me of that horribly slow French film we saw a few years ago, Caché. You really don’t need to see this movie unless you like George Clooney the way I like Ewan McGregor.
— RATING —
