The American ***1/2
Directed by: Anton Corbijn
Starring: George Clooney, Irina Bjorklund, Johan Leysen, Paolo Bonacelli, The American, Violante Placido
Focus Features
Release Date: September 4, 2010

The cold and austere snow covered landscape that is immediately placed before us in Anton Corbijn’s “The American” is an opening that grabs our attention and also becomes a metaphor for representing the inner-being of our ruthless and cold-blooded killer, Jack (George Clooney), or does he go by Edward? It is this kind of ambiguity, uncertainty of past events that makes the film an exquisite think-piece. It is a thriller but does not have the same mission other thrillers have. The American possesses a mission that is essential to existentialism: It desires to find the soul of an unbalanced man.

Clooney embodies the indistinct killer, urging even more so the film toward a more mysterious atmosphere. Clooney is situated in a role that requires him to look vulnerable; to wear a countenance that is demoralized. This side of Mr. Clooney has been foreign to movie going audiences. We see his withered, worried face and we automatically begin to think – what is this man concealing? What are his motives? What does he believe in?