The American.

The other night I watched the recently released The American starring George Clooney, I thought it was really rather good, it had it all, amazing scenery, suspense, thrills, breasts, fanny hair and even 'Rodney Dangerfield' as the Priest.
Joking aside, it's not hard to see why Anton Corbijn's (Control 2007) new film is getting the thumbs up and five stars across the world by the critics, this put me in mind of of old Euro cinema like Antonioni's The Passenger, Bertolucci's The Conformist and even early Bond flick On Her Majesty's Secret Service - maybe that was just the snow and the unsettling climax, an enjoyable film, slow paced, tense, intelligent and haunting, even the cool poster was reminiscent of this bygone era.
Based on the novel A Very Private Gentleman by Martin Booth, The American stars Hollywood A lister George Clooney going slightly against the usual George Clooney type with a more thoughtful and interesting turn as Jack aka 'Edward' a hitman laying low and wanting out, who finds himself out in the sticks in the open scenic small medieval town of Abruzzo, Italy. Despite telling his somewhat untrustworthy boss he will keep his head down and not speak to anyone and his own personal quest for anonymity, he soon befriends the local Priest (Paolo Bonacelli) and a local prostitute (Violante Placido) whilst preparing one last job for a fellow assassin covertly constructing the weapon at different intervals for his mysterious contact (Thekla Reuten) as his relationship with prostitute Clara blossoms his journey turns into one of extreme paranoia as he finds himself pursued by fellow assassins leading to a nervy and intense climax. The American.