Dutch director Anton Corbijn makes beautiful people and places look, 
well, beautiful.
Corbijn hasn’t an idea in his head, but he knows how to make ancient cobblestone stairways look blitheringly atmospheric. He knows how to show off buck naked actors, and their assets, to voyeuristic perfection.
He knows how to photograph George Clooney’s best angles. (And yes, there are quite a few of those.)
But he really has no clue as to how to create an absorbing cinematic experience. Pity really.
So much to work with, so little point.
The American is a non-film disguised as a postmodern existential (yes, I know that’s an oxymoron) thriller. There’s no pulse here.
Just one more glimpse of this or that bit of flesh. One more shot of Clooney, a weary hit-man on the eve of retirement, sitting in a spare apartment in Italy’s rugged Abruzza district, rubbing his temples in an effort to appear deeply, profoundly, psychologically anxious. It doesn’t work. We know it’s just a gorgeous actor rubbing his temples, while the camera examines his dark brows and the rich textures of the wall behind his head.
caveat emptor
Thanks for saving me the price of whatever a ticket goes for these days. Guess it’s been so long that I don’t even know. Guess the last time I say any film at a theatre I was not impressed. Guess I have a problem?
I did like your phrasing, “The American is a non-film disguised as a postmodern existential (yes, I know that’s an oxymoron) thriller…”
What did you mean? Did you mean that post-modern America is an oxymoron?
How about the thriller on the reality TV show that never got to the tubular stage? You know, the thriller that history books will call “Post-America goes non-existent (ial).
How about adding that narrative to this stream-of-food-consciousness!
See any relation between the current oxymoronic “popular culture” and post-America?
Look into your crystal-wineglass and conjure the taste of that … just for your readers. Will it have notes of fig, chocolate and vanilla, or will there be some very unpleasant and not-oft-whiffed odors that are not to be mentioned in polite company?
Is your olfactory sense tuned? Smellin’ anything funny yet? If so, do tell.