An American Assassin In Italy

When trying to describe The American, "leisurely" is the word that keeps coming to mind. Which seems a strange choice for a movie where Jack (George Clooney) kills three people in the first five minutes. Two of them are people there to kill him (in retaliation for some earlier hit he'd made), but the third was a lady friend he was spending time with in a cabin in the Swedish wilderness, and he shot her in the back, just like that. He did at least have the decency to look panicked about having to do so.

After that, when his handler directs him to an Italian village to lay low, the movie slows a bit. Jack finds a place to stay. He is, against his will at first, drawn into conversations with the local vicar. He visits a brothel, but finds himself attracted to one particular woman. The movie has the feel of an inevitable confrontation, but isn't in any rush to get there. Which is fine. It uses that time to give us a sense of Jack as a man ready for a change, but whose past isn't going to let go.

There is a tension underlying that leisurely feeling. People following Jack, his own suspicious and cautious nature. Watching the film, I wondered whether it was supposed to be something Jack was unaware of, something just for us. What I mean is, we as an audience can see that final confrontation coming, at least partially because we watch movies. We know how these things tend to play out, that they will come to a head eventually. So we're left wondering when. But does Jack have that same feeling? Could he even tell the difference between it and the usual air of danger that pervades his life?

I wouldn't say you have to see The American. The story about the hired gun who is tiring of the work isn't a new one, though this film tells it fairly well. You might find the connections between characters a little vague, which I think was purposeful. My dad and I had some confusion about they were related, who they were calling, and so on. That might have just been us, though. If the opportunity arises to see it, at a friends, or as a rental, I'd say give it a chance.