Giles Keyte/Focus FeaturesReview in a Hurry: If you like beautifully composed, static shots of George Clooney being kinda quiet in Italy, this is your movie. If you were hoping for much else, it ain't.
The Bigger Picture: This is the movie that was made especially for people who thought Michael Clayton was too fast-paced. If you're reading this on a computer screen, you're probably not one of them.
Clooney, wearing a beard, is hanging out in the snow somewhere. A couple people die, because he might be a hitman, or an assassin, or something. Then he's in Italy, without the beard, trying to chill out. Which he does. He has sex with a prostitute and falls for her. Improbably, she falls for him right back, as hookers only do in movies.
Then Clooney builds a gun out of mail-order parts that look like fishing rods. He stares a lot. Talks to this one woman who also seems to be a hitwoman, or assassin, or something. Makes friends with a priest. Gets his car fixed. Every once in a while, there's a gunshot.
And that's pretty much it.
Since this movie was lensed in Italy and directed by Anton Corbijn, best known for his gritty, black and white photos of the likes of Johnny Cash and U2, it's no surprise that every shot here is gorgeous. If The American were a coffee-table book rather than a movie, we'd give it an A.
But the oblique, minimalist approach to narrative implies that there's something more to get here than the usual "hitman who wants to retire" clichés, and there really isn't. It's like being given a connect-the-dots puzzle, only to find out it contains just four dots.
The 180—a Second Opinion: If you can get into the zen-like state this movie requires of you, there is a hypnotic quality that might suck you in. And make you want to visit small towns in Italy.