The American

[valda]

Thought this was excellent. A slow-burn thriller for sure, but then I knew that going in. One more interested in mood and atmosphere than spills and thrills and all the better for it. The action when it happened was economical and effective. A nicely understated performance from George Clooney. Beautifully shot which is hardly surprising with Anton Corbijn in the director's chair. Wasn't bored for a second and never felt it dragged at all despite the deliberately slow-pacing.
Admittedly a couple of characters were fairly one-dimensional. The kind priest, the hooker with a heart of gold.
Also the symbolism was a tad heavy-handed. Butterflies they change from one thing into another. Clooney wants to leave the life of an assassin behind and live a simpler life. Okay we get it, no need to keep showing it.
Overall though I liked this a lot.

From what I can gather there's a lot more in the book with both the priest and the prostitute, I think Anton should have decided which way to go, and leave out one of the characters and developed the other more.

I knew what the film ws going to be like before going in so was expecting the slow burn. The marketing department should be taken to task for marketing it like a Bourne Bond sort of movie. There will be a lot of dissappointed people not getting what they were expecting.

I thought George has never been better. Sure lots of people like cheeky charming George, but I also have a fondness for the mature George, with the stripped back bare performances.

Anyway I loved this film, really want to read the book now, and find out more of the character. 8/10

[Celini]

it was pretty boring and slow for my taste but I am always very very happy to see a movie at the Empire :)

6/10

[valda]

it was pretty boring and slow for my taste but I am always very very happy to see a movie at the Empire :)

6/10

I love that screen 1. I have my own place I like to go where I won't have anyone in front of me.

I have to say, there seemed to be more than the usual amount of latecomers. One couple came in about half an hour after the start. Why bother?

[pcRock]

BTW, I was surprised to read at the start of the movie that Herbert Grönemeyer composed the score of this movie. (Probably only Beate knows who I'm talking about.)

[soonforgotten]

Saw this at The Empire as well. Had to sit a bit closer than I would have preferred thanks to my gf taking aaaaages to get ready. I quite liked this film, despite the fact that the story itself is pretty flimsy. There's no real background on anything or anyone. Why are the Swedes after him? Why does the prostitute take such a shine to him? Who is he anyway and exactly who does he work for? Despite this, I enjoyed the film and that makes me want to read the book in hope of answering some of these questions. It is a beautiful film to watch and I didn't feel like it dragged. I felt the suspense was excellently delivered and if there had been more of a fully formed story to be involved in, it could have been a great flick. As it is, it's good, though I was put off by what I feel is a cliched finale.

7.5/10 from me.

[Paulkersey]

I was at the Empire screening yesterday morning as well and I would have probably pa*d to see it at some point. Quite an effective opening which unsettles the audience as to who Clooney's character really is. But then as far as having to explain everything to the audience, this is a European take on a very well-worn American genre. In fact, I was surprised at how predictable the film turned out to be, not to give anything away, and was expecting at least some subversion in how the story ended.

I saw the trailer as well with the cliched breathy voice over, but the fact is distributors need to rope people in to cinemas, sometimes by fair means or foul. If the trailer was more reflective of the film, I think it would put off many people from seeing it.

Nicely shot by Corbijn, who can definitely handle an action scene, along with some nice moments where an outsiders view of Italy (and America) is reflected by the characters. A good turn from Clooney and particularly Bonacelli as the Priest, who provides most of the film's humour. Just felt the story could have delivered more and not been so drawn out at times. 3 out of 5.

[opas]

I was gripped from the opening scenes but for me it went downhill from there. I wasn't sure what to expect and it was a slow burn for sure - thought it would be a fast paced thriller with a very unsympathetic, ruthless character and was looking forward to that.

I'm not really a George Clooney fan but it I thought he was very good in this - one of his best roles (the only other thing I've really rated him in was ER as Doug Ross, all his other movies have been a bit 'meh' to me).

The priest and prostitute characters didn't seem to work for me but I think I understand why, following Valda's explanation of how it differs in the book. Beautiful scenery and well shot, it just didn't live up to what I thought the first 10 minutes were promising. Was expecting a 9/10 but by the end I felt it was more like a 6/10 so I'd give it about 7/10 overall.

[andrews]

Violante Placido has said she wasn't worried about her naked scene with George Clooney.

The Italian actress plays a prostitute, Clara, in The American, the new film directed by Anton Corbjin which stars George as an assassin.

Asked whether George helped put her at ease, she said: "Absolutely, and Anton too. There was a good atmosphere of trust. We could focus a lot. There was concentration."

The 34-year-old actress, singer and songwriter added: "It wasn't my first time (stripping off). I remember my first time was tougher, but I think that once you get into this, you decide to become an actor and you explore everything of human aspects through different roles all the time.

"When we tell the story, there is the body that talks sometimes. An actor is ready to be naked in all senses with emotions and with its body. I don't see much difference."

She added: "When you're trying to tell a character and in this case, the character is a prostitute, then the body would come in. It would be very unnatural if you tried to hide that part, and not tell the story through the body as well."

[Beate]

BTW, I was surprised to read at the start of the movie that Herbert Grönemeyer composed the score of this movie. (Probably only Beate knows who I'm talking about.)

Oh man, really? I LOVE him. A proper rocker he is. One of the few to actually sing in German. I would have loved to see this film, especially at the Empire. Must use a Cineworld voucher or something.

[pbj]

I thought the movie was something worth seeing and would have pa*d to see even after the misleading trailers, though I never trust trailers any way; unless you now the story before hand I think its always best not to build up ones expectations and simply enjoy the experience (or NOT like skyline).