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| Movie Review: The American Alternate Title: Much Ado About Nothing
Story: How do I categorize a
film that is visually exciting and mood delighting but fails to deliver
a meaningful story or characters that I cared about? Sadly, I have to
categorize it as missable. The film was directed
by artist Anton Corbijn and almost every scene is picture
book eye candy. The weak part was the story which was written by Rowan
Joffe and based on the novel A Very Private Gentleman,
by Martin Booth. Our protagonist, Jack, is a loner. There are
lots of question marks as to who this loner is, why he kills people
and who he works for. None of these questions are answered, so I am
surmising he is a hit man with no motive other than money. Much of the film is devoted to the loner's creation of a weapon for
another hit man (woman). There is little dialog. Lots of attention is
paid to the gorgeous Italian town where this loner hides out. Angles,
always, curvy roads and moody morning fog with some suspense thrown
into the midst. Should you see it? If you like to stare at George Clooney for two hours,
that would be a good reason to se it. Other than that - wait for it
to come to cable real soon. Watch the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ywmoXZwkA0 Acting: George Clooney as Jack is unusually grim.
Thekla Reuten as Mathilde wears the same grim face.
Paolo Bona- celli as Father Benedetto was forgettable.
Violante Placido as the hooker, Clara is pretty and
spends most of the film half naked.
Trivia: Director Anton Corbijn is an accomplished
and very popular still photographer. He has photographed bands such
as U2, R.E.M. and filmed videos for bands like Nirvana ("Heart
Shaped Box"), Metallica ("Hero of the Day") and Depeche
Mode (with whom he collaborates since 1986)
Predilection: None
Critters: A passing dog and a lamb.
Food: Considering it was Italy there is almost no
appetizing food.
Sex Spectrum: As said above, one of the characters
spends much of the film half naked.
Blatant Product Placement: Nikon
Soundtrack: Moody
Opening Titles: An opening sequence with a murder
then all of the titles are superimposed as jack drives to his hide-out
in Italy.
Visual Art: Martin Ruhe, director of photography,
paints a lovely canvas.
Theater Audience: About a dozen guys and me.
Weather: Italy is usually suffused in sepia tones.
Not in this cool blue palette film. Sappy Factor: 0
Quirky Meter: 0
Squirm Scale: 0
Drift Factor: I did indeed drift.
Predictability Level: I stopped caring somewhere
along the way. Tissue Usage: 0
Oscar Worthy: No
Big Screen or Rental: Neither
Length: Under two hours
LOBO HOWLS: 5
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