The American (2010)
Average Rating: 6.5/10
Reviews Counted: 209
Fresh: 137 | Rotten: 72
As beautifully shot as it is emotionally restrained, The American is an unusually divisive spy thriller -- and one that rests on an unusually subdued performance from George Clooney.
Average Rating: 6.5/10
Critic Reviews: 44
Fresh: 29 | Rotten: 15
As beautifully shot as it is emotionally restrained, The American is an unusually divisive spy thriller -- and one that rests on an unusually subdued performance from George Clooney.
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Average Rating: 2.8/5
User Ratings: 64,343
Movie Info
Story: Academy Award winner George Clooney stars in the title role of this suspense thriller. As an assassin, Jack is constantly on the move and always alone. After a job in Sweden ends more harshly than expected for this American abroad, Jack retreats to the Italian countryside. He relishes being away from death for a spell as he holes up in a small medieval town. While there, Jack takes an assignment to construct a weapon for a mysterious contact, Mathilde (Thekla Reuten). Savoring the
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Cast
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George Clooney
Jack, Jack/Edward -
Paolo Bonacelli
Father Benedetto -
Thekla Reuten
Mathilde -
Violante Placido
Clara -
Irina Björklund
Ingrid -
Johan Leysen
Pavel -
Filippo Timi
Fabio -
Anna Foglietta
Anna -
Lars Hjelm
Hunter #1 -
Björn Granath
Hunter #2 -
Giorgio Gobbi
Man on Vespa -
Silvana Bosi
Old Cheese Vendor -
Guido Palliggiano
Waiter (Market) -
Samuli Vauramo
Young Swedish Man -
Antonio Rampino
Postmaster -
Isabelle Adriani
Hooker #1 -
Ilaria Cramerotti
Hooker #2 -
Angelica Novak
Hooker #3 -
Raffaele Serao
Barman (Town Square ... -
Sandro Dori
Waiter (Locanda Grap...
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The American Trailer & Photos
All Critics (209) | Top Critics (44) | Fresh (137) | Rotten (72) | DVD (1)
At its best, the film's silence and unrevealing mood of observation remind you of 'The Passenger' or Paulo Sorrentino's 'Consequences of Love'...
Top CriticThis movie is so serious about its pretensions that none of it makes any sense.
While cinema-lovers can cheer a director willing to buck the fashion for sensory overload, The American can't rightly be called a success.
The good news, though, is that eventually The American does get to where it wants to be, and becomes a rather improbably but genuinely moving story.
Clooney channels Delon, Belmondo and Bronson in the highly atmospheric 'The American,' an acquired taste that, once tasted, is easily savored
If you're expecting a star-propelled thriller with the usual bob, weave and one-two punch, this isn't your ticket.
George Clooney delivers a strong but subdued performance in this slow-paced character study.
The filmmakers seem to have forgotten that it takes more than a brooding assassin to engage the audience for the full runtime of the film. Moreover, if that character isn't involved in an interesting narrative, they'll have even less reason to care.
It may not be the fast-paced assassin thriller you might expect, but it benefits more from that than anything else.
When the story is threadbare and the picture lacks dynamism, all that's left is the character study but Corbijn's technique frustrates any attempt to truly get under Jack's skin. Consequently The American is often as non-descript as its title.
An arty Euro thriller that favours style over excitement and character over plot.
suggests that we've lost everything but our desire to be better--and in the end, it lets us decide whether that's good enough.
If you want to see a carefully paced, well-designed and beautifully shot suspense-thriller that hits all of its marks, then you could do far worse than The American.
... for audiences that prefer to be absorbed by films rather than exhausted by them, The American offers a rare experience.
The camera loves Clooney, of course, but it also loves watching him building a custom rifle in his shop...
For all of its precise direction and beautiful imagery, it's a classic genre picture, and a damn good one at that...
Listless Euro-ennui pastiche
While it feels like nothing much is happening, there's a lot going on under the surface, and a real sense of growing suspense.
There's a lot to value, even if it drinks a little too deeply from the well of stock Euro-assassin-movie characters and situations.
Sparse, tense, beautiful... and strangely empty. The dialogue, plot and characterisation are nowhere near as deep or profound as the filmmakers seem to think they are.
A muted thriller, weighed a little too obviously with existential angst. Still, sexy and tense, with a brave, bare performance from Clooney.
Partway between icy existentialism and retro romantic thriller, The American wants to have its cake and eat it.
It purrs evenly, like the engine of a luxury automobile, with a cool, sleek satisfaction at how stylish it is. That said, it is pretty stylish...
As with watching the equally compact, detached Cary Grant, it's a great pleasure just to see the stone-faced Clooney going about his work exuding mystery and inner torment...
The greatest singular joy of The American is the fact that it's less complicated than Clooney's 2007 thriller Michael Clayton and we're never sure if George is going to explode into life.
Audience Reviews for The American
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Movies Like The American
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- Ingrid: Why would you have a gun?
- Jack: Who were the Swedes?
- Pavel: I've made arrangements to leave town while I sort this thing out.
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- Mathilde: Goodbye, Mr. Butterfly.
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- Pavel: Don't talk to anyone, and above all, don't make any friends, Jack. You used to know that.
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- Clara: You are a good man, but you have a secret.
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- Father Benedetto: A man can be reached if he has God in his heart.
- Jack: I don't think God's very interested in me, father.
Discussion Forum
| Topic | Last Post | Replies |
|---|---|---|
| J Bogard = moron | 6 months ago | 0 |
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Foreign Titles
- The American (Männersachen) (DE)
- El americano (ES)
