The American [DVD]

Based on the novel "A Very Private Gentleman" by Martin Booth, The American follows the story of Jack (George Clooney - Up In The Air) an assassin and weapon smith. After his cover is blown in Sweden, Jack flees to Italy and is sent to lie-low in the picturesque hill-top town of Castel Vecchio. Jack's paranoia means he is distrusting of his handler and relocates to the nearby Castel del Monte. Unused to foreigners in their midst, the locals dub him "The American" despite Jack's insistence he is here solely for the photographic panoramas the town affords. After befriending the local priest rather inadvertently, Jack begins to relax in his new surroundings until his handler gives him another job involving another assassin (the beautiful Thekla Reuten - In Bruges), will he take it? Or will he leave his old life behind for the seemingly fleeting happiness that Castel del Monte grants him?

A deep sense of menace sets into this film from the get-go and how could it not with an opening scene revealing some pretty telling issues about our protagonist despite only a handful of words being said. It is this sense of foreboding that carries this film in its slower parts and it's not without its lulls. However there is something of a wordless character development going on in the lulls as we see Jack is a rigorously methodical man, exercising religiously and the artisanal-like devotion he gives to his trade. His relationship with the handful of locals he befriends are all telling about some part of his psyche and helps us understand the type of man Jack is. For these reasons the American has become a fast-favourite of mine, the story is linear and progresses at a decent enough pace yet has is almost hypnotic in the way it unfurls. Clooney's performance is stellar, despite being low on dialogue; I was enthralled by the character. This is a modern-day story of the The samurai.

Having said all that, the simple linear premise and the serenity of this film can let your attention wander during the 1 hour and 45 minutes this plays out in, but if you are as captivated as I was by the initial scenes and frantic scrabbling trying to put the handful of jigsaw pieces you are given together in some sort of meaningful way you will be entertained. Short on dialogue but long on atmosphere, The American will divide its audience. All I can say is be patient and bear with it and you stand a good chance of enjoying a very arty tale!

If you're expecting a brash American blockbuster with George Clooney wise-cracking his way through it, think again.

This ia a very European film, beautifully observed, beautifully filmed, slow moving and sometimes low on dialogue. George Clooney gives a superb, subdued performance as the insular assassin hiding out in stunning Italian countryside. The Italian and Belgian leading ladies are also superb - and ever so sexy.

I feel this is a marvellous film, one of the best of 2010. However, I accept that some movie-goers would have preferred a brash guns-and-explosions American extravaganza, and those people are likely to be a little puzzled and perhaps even slightly disappointed. This film probably has more in common with "Cinema Paradiso" than with "Ocean's Eleven". A teen movie it ain't.

It started off OK , and was looking forward to it. However it had an ending that took a bit of figuring out, and when you did it was a bit silly really.