Culturebox: The Really Quiet American

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movies The Really Quiet American George Clooney in a contemplative spy thriller. By Dana Stevens Posted Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010, at 3:24 PM ET The American (Focus Features), the second film by the Dutch photographer-turned-filmmaker Anton Corbijn (Control), is like a James Bond fantasy for very patient Europhiles. The story, loosely based on a novel by Martin Booth, contains gunplay, exotic locations, and a bevy of international beauties throwing themselves at a hunky hit man. But all of these elements are suspended in a medium of near-motionless anomie that recalls the austere thrillers of Jean-Pierre Melville or, at times, the existential longueurs of Antonioni. If you're willing to let go of your Hollywood-bred expectations for a movie of this type--spectacular action set pieces, constant pulse-pounding music, a killing every 15 minutes--The American is a great pleasure to watch, an astringent antidote to the loud, frantic action movies that have been clogging our veins all summer. For all the demands it will place on the viewer's attention span, though, The American doesn't start slow. It kicks off with an absolutely killer cold open in a snowbound cabin in Sweden, where the American of the title, Jack (George Clooney) is romancing a lissome Scandinavian honey. Their postcoital stroll turns unexpectedly violent--a development that's all the more frightening for taking place in absolute, snow-muffled silence. Jack goes into hiding in Italy, instructed by his superior Pavel (Johan Leysen) to lie low for a while. (We never do learn exactly what kind of organization Jack works for--is he a CIA agent? An international operative of some kind? A mercenary?) A tiny hillside village in Abruzzo becomes Jack's temporary home. Again on the instructions of the mysterious Pavel, Jack--who, apparently, is a world-class gunsmith--begins working on a special custom-designed weapon for a female assassin (Thekla Reuten). To continue reading, click here. Dana Stevens is Slate's movie critic. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate The L.A. Times Was Right and Brave To Publish the Performance Data of 6,000 Teachers My Husband Is Finally Home From Iraq Which Type of Booze Is Most Healthy for You? Beer? Wine? Bourbon?	Advertisement
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