Monday, August 8, 2011

Monday Movie Meme ~ A Hot Shot...


Feature Presentation... MONDAY MOVIE MEME

The Bumbles and thus, Monday Movie Meme, are on hiatus right now because they've had an exciting happening in their family ~ the birth of beautiful Samuel Morgan on July 27th! Trust me, you want to stop by The Bumbles Blog and see the adorable Samuel!



I figure I'll tell you about a movie I saw recently (thank you Netflix!) and I really enjoyed although generally it hasn't been a big audience pleaser. The movie is The American starring George Clooney, Paolo Bonacelli and Violante Placido and directed by Anton Corbijn. It's based on the book A Very Private Gentleman by Martin Booth. Clooney plays Jack, assassin-for-hire, an American currently working in Europe. A job in Sweden is a bit of a fiasco. Jack vows to his contact, Pavel, that his next job will be his last. It seems his head may no longer be in the game, which is usually the undoing of an assassin-for-hire. Jack sequesters himself away in a small town in the Italian countryside and enjoys being away from the job of death for a while. He befriends a local priest and begins spending time with a young woman, Clara< he first meets when seeking out a prostitute! Despite quiet days and nights, Jack's guard his up, his well-honed radar is telling him not to get too comfortable. too soon he's contacted about the next, and according to Jack, his last job, by Mathilde a woman who wants Jack to build a custom-designed sniper rifle to be used in an assassination. Jack builds a perfect rifle but he doesn't know who he can trust anymore...is he being paranoid? Will he figure out in time who's after him? Is anyone really after him?


This movie is called a thriller which I suppose it is but it's not a fast-paced, action-packed movie. It moves at a slower pace than many thrillers. The saying, 'the devil is in the details" applies here ~ this movie is all about subtlety and you need to pay attention to the details, it's where the answers lie. The dialogue is important, too, what's being said as well as what isn't and you want to watch Jack: his actions, his behavior and his facial expression, in particular. This is a thoughtful, thought-provoking movie which s what I enjoyed about it. The scenery and backgrounds is also beautiful. The ending shocked me, too! It wasn't what I wanted but it went with the movie!

5 comments:

  1. I haven't seen this one yet, but do have to admit that it's one that I have been thinking of adding to my queue. It sounds like you really liked it, so I will have to be sure to check it out!

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  2. Oooh I do love Clooney! This is something my husband would vote to see.

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  3. Anything with George Clooney in it is worth seeing!

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  4. So glad to read your review. I always hate to not like a George Clooney movie and I've not heard very many people who liked this. Sounds more like they didn't get what they were looking for, which was action. I'm more than happy to go with a thriller that's a makes me think and pay attention.

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  5. havent seen this movie as yet, but might give it a shot soon. Incidentally, I know you have done a few of the monday movie meme picks proper on the bumbles blog, but (and I apologise for this) here is mine that I am shamlessly plugging to all the regulars on Bumbles. I hope you dont mind me having a shot at it for a while? let me know your thoughts. thanks.

    http://smurfdok.wordpress.com/2011/08/15/monday-movie-meme-3/

    Dale (Smurfin' The Web)

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