The American

I know many people think George Clooney is a walking talking special effect all by himself, but we need more than his bare chest and rugged jaw to make The American interesting.

Clooney stars as Jack - an assassin on the run. His boss, Pavel (Johan Leysen), has sent him to a remote Italian town where he can quietly build a specialized rifle to be used by another hitwoman, Mathilde (Thekla Reuten). However, Jack's life gets complicated as he befriends a local priest (Paolo Bonacelli), develops a relationship with a lady of the evening, Clara (Violante "the woman who makes me want to learn Italian" Placido), and finds himself consumed by paranoia and fear thinking danger is around every corner.

Will Jack be able to stay safe?

Can he escape this life for a better one?

From the scenery to the co-stars to the cinematography to the tone to the slow meandering pace, The American is a European film through and through. However, this is America. We want stuff to happen and this film seems to be too cool for silly things like details, plot development and action.

Director Anton Corbijn and writer Rowan Joffe (based on a novel by Martin Booth) amazingly squeeze a full length feature movie out of a script that doesn't seem to have more than 100 words in it. Paris Hilton puts more effort and thought into her alibis.

Corbijn constantly shows Jack looking over his shoulder as he walks down the street, looking over his shoulder as he disembarks from a train, or looking over his shoulder as he sips cappuccinos in a café.

Perhaps Jack is looking over his shoulder for a plot twist or two? That's like me looking over my shoulder to see if Blake Lively is arriving for our romantic dinner for two. It isn't happening, no matter how many times he looks (or how many times I look).

Corbijn makes The American into a moody, meditative piece with barely an explanation or plot twist in sight.

Why is Jack on the run?

What did he do in the past?

Why are the Swedes after him? (and, let's face it, you must of done something pretty horrible to get the Swedes ticked off at you!)

These details could help us understand Jack's paranoia and fear of deception everywhere he looks (over his shoulder).

Without stuff happening, Clooney is doing a fantastic job creating a miserable character, and Corbijn still, somehow develops moments of great tension. It's just not enough. We get these moments far and few between as the rest of the movie has us waiting around for excitement that doesn't happen.

Like a Playboy model, The American looks cool and sexy, but doesn't have any substance.

The American is rated R for violence, sexual content and nudity.