Clooney hits the target in quiet film

George Clooney is the best thing about “The American,” Dutch director Anton Corbijn’s movie about a man involved in assassinations who goes into hiding in the beautiful mountain country of Abruzzo in east-central Italy.

What went wrong to send him into hiding? That’s unclear, though an opening sequence in Sweden shows us the messy result of a job gone bad.

Is he a gun for hire? We’re not sure, though he’s certainly capable of murder. His specialty in this movie seems to be the work of a craftsman: providing the weaponry, ammunition, silencer, even carrying case needed for a job.

We don’t even know his name. Sometimes he goes by Edward, sometimes by Jack.

“The American,” based on Martin Booth’s novel “A Very Private Gentleman,” is the kind of movie that lets lots of background details dangle, yet zeroes in on its central character with enough detail to pull you in.

That comes with a caveat. If you require loads of action and dialogue, “The American” will probably bore the pants off you. Yes, it has splashes of gore, violence and one fairly explicit and extended sex scene.

But mostly this is a quiet movie with little dialogue. The camera focuses on its two main characters. One, obviously, is Jack/Edward, often in extreme close-up as he goes about procuring a weapon for a client (Thekla Reuten), taking up with a local hooker (Violante Placido) and a priest (Paolo Bonacelli), but watching his back at all times.

The other focus is the Italian countryside, often in long, wide shots of breathtaking mountain scenery, verdant valleys, burbling streams and picturesque old villages perched atop ridges.

This feels like a European film in its moodiness, its long silences and its leisurely pacing spiced with brief action. It’s certainly a very international cast, with prominent characters played by actors from Finland, the Netherlands and Italy.

The mood is set by Clooney, whose character often wears a poker face as he goes about his work. What makes Clooney’s performance great is the little ways he transmits the inner thoughts and feelings of this character without words, and with very little facial expression. It’s impressive.

Gradually you get that he wants out of the business, that his past has caught up with him. His chats with the elderly priest delve into the subject of redemption (the priest turns out to have a past of his own), and his relationship with the hooker seems to be evolving into something more than sex for money.

But he’s finding that getting out isn’t easy as he takes care of one last job.

It’s hard to tell whom he can trust. Even the priest and the hooker are suspect, not to mention the female marksman for whom he is providing a high-powered rifle with silencer, all of which has to fit into a very small carrying case.

And there’s a Scandinavian-looking guy shadowing him as well.

Director Corbijn, primarily known as a rock music documentarian, uses an artful, minimalist approach in telling his story. It’s surprisingly effective and taut, despite its often static nature.

That’s mostly because of Clooney, who proves again he’s as good at his craft as he is at making the ladies swoon.

Contact the writer:

444-1269, bob.fischbach@owh.com

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