The American | NEW MOVIE 2010

The American | NEW MOVIE 2010

The American | NEW MOVIE 2010

Director: Anton Corbijn
Starring: George Clooney, Violante Placido, Thekla Reuten, Paolo Bonacelli, Irena Bjorklund, Johan Leysen
Running Time: 105 min.
Rating: R

★★★ (out of ★★★★)

There's likely to be some exaggerating in terms of just how little happens plot-wise in the anti-thriller The American. But yes, not a lot happens and what does is mostly meant to be inferred by viewers, many of which would probably say the "action" is limited to George Clooney drinking coffee, loading a gun, doing push-ups, sleeping with a hooker and staring solemnly. And they wouldn't be completely wrong. You could throw around words like "boring," "dull," and "slow" all day long but fairer, far more accurate descriptions would be "measured" "methodical" and "deliberate." The 1960's/70's Steve McQueen inspired retro-style poster hinted at this, but anyone expecting a Jason Bourne-style action adventure from the commercials will find themselves watching what more closely resembles a European art house film.

I couldn't help but laugh to myself in the darkened theater knowing that when the lights came up the complaining and cursing would begin from those who felt tricked by savvy mis-marketing into making this the number one movie in America. Had this been released thirty years ago it still would have been the number one movie in the country with the key difference being a far warmer audience reaction and probably a few Oscar nominations. But it wasn't. It's being released NOW, posing the very interesting question of just how much art we want in our entertainment and vice versa. That this effort legitimately feels like the genuine article and not just some self-indulgent tribute only adds more fire to that debate. While I can appreciate complaints of its painfully slow pace, I found it's lack of plot refreshing because this is exactly the kind of film Hollywood always manages to screw up with way too much of one. If this is a failure (which it isn't by the way) let's at least just admit it's the kind of intelligent failure all involved should be applauded for attempting, especially Clooney, who makes a brave choice in picking a project he had to know would alienate much of his fan base. It was a huge risk for him to tackle this but in doing so conclusively proves he's a talented actor fully committed to his craft.

Without much of a plot to speak of, what there is of one concerns hitman and weapons expert "Jack" or "Edward" (Clooney) depending on what alias he feels like going by that day. After narrowly surviving a messy sniper attack in Sweden, Jack/Edward is ordered by his boss Pavel (Johan Leysen) to inconspicuously settle in small Italian village and not make any friends while awaiting his next assignment. Said assignment is constructing a hire-powered silencer for a female assassin named Mathilde (Thekla Reuten), but he's pestered by local priest Father Benedetto (Paolo Bonacelli) and begins to fall in love with Clara (Violante Placido), a beautiful but potentially untrustworthy prostitute in the village's run-down bordello. Yet the film is about none of those things, which comes as a relief because if it was this would be just another routine hitman thriller. Instead, it's a character study and mood piece more interested in letting us fill in the blanks. None of those details mentioned above are ever explicitly stated during the picture and there isn't much in the way of dialogue. There are exactly three action scenes, two of which occur in the film's first and final ten minutes. We're left to figure out everything by carefully observing Jack/Edward.

The entire film is projected on Clooney's face. From him it can be gauged that this is really a redemptive story of a man who was once very good at what he did but lost his touch and is having a subtle attack of conscience. Now he wants out. The question is whether it's too late and at what price. It's rare for a lead actor to be asked to do as much with body language and facial expressions as Clooney does here, but he's up for it, responding with one of his quietest, most absorbing performances yet. Becoming a pro at portraying weathered, middle-age characters at a crossroads, he lifts pensive brooding to an art form. I never thought much of Clooney's work over the years but in the past couple he's really turned the corner to the point where I'm just about ready to sign up as the president of his fan club. He's an example of what can happen when someone dedicates themselves to making smart, challenging choices that play to their strengths as a performer. In his filmography this should fit somewhere between Syriana and Michael Clayton in terms of genre but it isn't needlessly complicated like the former, and while it does share some of the same throwback thriller qualities as the latter (and also has a sensational final scene), it's more cerebral than suspenseful.

Even if I'm unintentionally making it sound like I loved the movie, I didn't. It could have been tighter, although as slow as it is at 105 minutes I was strangely never bored or felt it dragged. That's probably because the scenery is so nice to look at and it's tonally on target, but at the same time it's important to not overpraise former music video director Anton Corbijn for basically using beautiful photography, an impressive score and topless women to distract us from the fact that the plot is irrelevant, if not worthless. Still at the same time it's an interesting change to to be freed from those conventional constraints, earning him points for delivering something so completely unlike what's usually out there. This experiment makes a strong case for how moviegoers can save themselves a lot of aggravation by spending five seconds checking the internet movie database for info to avoid being manipulated by false advertising, a justified tactic considering no one would have seen it otherwise. The picture itself is such a slow burn that it unsurprisingly takes a while to absorb and settle in the mind, so it wouldn't surprise me if it experiences a resurgence down the road as the point where Clooney the actor officially surpassed Clooney the movie star. The more you consider it, the more depth it has, the more sense it makes and the harder it becomes to shake. It's not for everyone, but The American succeeds at leaving a haunting, indelible impression.
Posted by jeremythecritic at 6:25 PM 0 comments
Labels: Anton Corbijn, George Clooney, The American, Violante Placido
Monday, September 6, 2010
Greenberg
Director: Noah Baumbach
Starring: Ben Stiller, Greta Gerwig, Rhys Ifans, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Brie Larson, Juno Temple, Mark Duplass
Running Time: 107 min.
Rating: R

★★★ (out of ★★★★)

Right after watching Greenberg something occurred to me. Ben Stiller didn't smile the entire movie. Not once. That's impressive, especially considering this is supposed to be a comedy, though not necessarily surprising since Stiller has always come off as a depressed, contained type of actor, even when playing goofier roles. And that's why he's perfect for Roger Greenberg, a neurotic, mentally and emotionally fragile 40-year-old, who returns home to California from New York to stay at his brother's. When he's told by his friend and former band mate, Ivan (Rhys Ifans), who still resents him for blowing their record deal in their twenties, that "youth is wasted on the young," he responds by stating "life is wasted on PEOPLE." That sarcastic little nugget of wisdom should give you a good idea the type of character we're dealing with and for much of the first hour you might be wondering if this film is wasted on us. But it isn't. While not as substantial as I expected, it's still a modestly well-put together character piece.

Of writer/director Noah Baumbach's past few efforts, this is easily his weakest, understandably falling short of the high bar set by my eighth favorite film of the decade, The Squid and the Whale and even lacking the satirical bite of 2007's inferior (but still pretty great) Margot at the Wedding. What they all have in common is a focus on detestable characters going through a life crisis of some sort. We're not supposed to like them, just want to at least attempt to understand their behavior and care what happens to them, but even that can be trying at times since Greenberg isn't merely unlikable. He's a full-fledged asshole who treats everyone he comes in contact with such contempt it can become insufferable for the viewer to spend any time with him at all. Luckily, Baumbach knows this and doesn't make him our main entry point into the story. Instead it's his brother's assistant, Florence Marr, who's played by relative unknown Greta Gerwig in the non-performance of the year, and that's intended as a high compliment. She's like that friendly girl you'd run into at the coffee shop or bookstore, but there just so happens to be a camera on her, even though it never seems as if she's acting at all.

A real natural on screen, so it doesn't take but the first few minutes of the picture for Gerwig to get us on Florence's side, whether she's just walking the dog or stuck in traffic. And the more time we spend with her the more we like her and if she says we'll be tolerating Greenberg's behavior today, well then, we'll be tolerating Greenberg's behavior today, no matter how irritating it gets. To everyone else he's an angry weirdo, but to her he's "damaged." This is one of THOSE movies, in which a loserish character approaching middle age with regret over a big mistake (or a variety of them) from the past is rescued by a younger, impossibly perfect woman. But in playing her Gerwig instead projects imperfectness, as well as an uncertainty and lack of confidence that would make the scenario plausible. She puts up with his tirades and verbal abuse, yet also somehow makes us understand why.

As a character, Greenberg is sort of a drag, since he doesn't do anything but mope and insult others over the fact that he feels life passed him by. His interactions with his ex-girlfriend, Beth (Jennifer Jason Leigh) are painfully embarrassing if only for his inability to take a hint and just move on. It makes sense no one would attempt to help him since he's such a jerk and one would assume he doesn't care, even if he really does. This creates a somewhat challenging viewing experience since it isn't exactly a blast seeing people's neuroses and insecurities splashed all over the screen, no matter how intelligently it's presented. Baumbach's a pro but at points it all becomes draining since this is supposed to be a comedy. The movie feels most alive and funniest during an extended party sequence in which a stoned Greenberg proves that he just might be the world's oldest 40-year-old, so hysterically out of touch with young people (or ANY people) that he could have dropped in from another planet to observe our species. Like Baumbach's best films, that situation's humor comes from a sad, cringe-worthy uncomfortableness that mirrors real-life. Exactly the kind of material Stiller excels most at.

Would it be cheaper for Baumbach to just hire himself a therapist instead of making these movies? At this budget, probably, but I still hope he doesn't and keeps going because you can't knock a guy for writing and directing personal movies he's passionate about and, more importantly, he's good at. With a comfortably lazy, laid back story more interested in behavior than plot (and a retro-feeling soundtrack to match) it seems like a throwback in method and style to some of the more character-driven films of the 70's that audiences just don't seem to have as much patience for today, which is completely understandable. There is a limit to how much realism and inaction a film can sustain, and without question it's pushed far here. Greenberg certainly won't be mistaken for being anything important or original, but it still slides nicely into Baumbach's filmography, continuing his streak of making smart observations about what makes people tick.