The American

Some movie titles are fairly self-explanatory. Nobody went into Dude Where's My Car expecting to see a subtle yet complex commentary on the human condition. Showgirls was also one of those titles that pretty much tipped its hand as to what kind of movie-going experience you were about to get. But when I saw the title The American, I was puzzled. What exactly was this movie going to be? Would be a movie about:

• A guy who couldn't pick out his home state on a map?
  
• A guy who believes Barrack Obama is really a secret Muslim
  
• A guy who is convinced we (Canadians) all live in igloos and take sled dogs to work
  
• A guy who could name all the cast members of Jersey Shore but not one Supreme Court Justice.
  

Of course, it wasn't any of those movies (although I am actively pitching two of them). In fact, this movie was nothing like I thought it would be. It was slow, methodical, nuanced, character rich, and unpredictable. When compared to other Hollywood Studio Films, it would be considered...well... un-American.

The American tells the story of Jack, a seasoned veteran of the spy world played by George Clooney. In the opening scene we see Jack spending some quality time with a lady friend in a remote winter cabin in Sweden. Snipers try to take Jack out but he manages to foil the hit and get away to fight another day. Of course we see what Jack must do to ensure his safety and we are instantly acutely aware of just how high the stakes are in Jack's world.

Director Anton Corbijn has a background in stills photography and this is evident from the very first image in the screen. This film is set in Sweden and Italy and the aesthetics in this film are magnificent. But at the same time, Corbijn is able to make the danger and suspense feel real. This isn't like a Bond film where we are aware we are watching a popcorn film. This movie feels more like a documentary crew followed an international covert hitman for a while. The tension is real and visceral.

This is especially true when Jack takes up residence in Italy for a few months. He is given a cell phone and other gear by his contact/handler but Jack doesn't keep it. He is suspicious about how he was found in Sweden and now can't trust even those who were his closest allies. But without certainty that they are working against him, he takes a job assisting a female hitman. Hitwoman? Hitperson? Assassin! She needs a special compact sniper rifle and Jack's job is to build it for her.

At this point in the film, I kept waiting for the pace and action to ramp up. Certainly there must be double-crosses and high speed highway chases coming but alas, they did not. See what I mean about refreshing? The majority of this storyline involves Jack collecting materials, building and testing this custom made sniper rifle. The other major storyline involves Jack's budding relationship with an Italian prostitute he visits named Carla played by the very beautiful Italian actress Violante Placido. Two things I could tell about this actress right off the top: she is very charming on screen and her agent has never heard of a no-nudity clause.

Very slowly and very methodically, these two storylines start to come together. Jack is becoming more and more suspicious about this job he is doing while at the same time, his relationship with Carla goes from professional to authentic. And while he wants to believe she is really falling for him, he can't allow himself to be taken in by her. Though he never says it aloud, we are thinking the exact same thing he is – could she be a spy plotting his assassination. What this film does exceptionally well is allowing these suspicions to fester without being ham-fisted about it. Yes there are some things that seem off but they are also easily explained. So what is the truth? The audience's frustration exactly mirrors what Jack must feel every moment of his life. We get a taste of what it is like never knowing if we can believe what is unfolding in front of our very eyes.

Methodical as it may be, this film does build to a climax where both storylines are resolved. We finally find out what is real and what is not. But again, even though there final confrontations and cat and mouse chases, it still feels very muted. The best sequence in the movie comes when Jack delivers the rifle to the hit-…assassin. Here is another great cat and mouse scene except we're never really sure who is the cat and who is the mouse.

This is a movie that is not for everyone. If you need the MTV style of lots of action, lots of smash cuts to hold your attention, this movie is not for you. However if you want a refreshing change and a well told, if understates suspense piece, you should see this movie.

But don't be fooled by its title. With a Dutch director, methodical story space, frequent nudity, and lack of explosions, what are you really seeing?

The European.

 

Tomorrow’s Review is Reader’s Choice

There are two new movies opening up Friday: (1) Going the Distance, a Drew Barrymore and Justin Long Romantic Comedy. (2) The American, a George Clooney movie which I assume is about a guy who couldn't identify France on a world map. Or it could be a romantic spy drama but that seems unlikely. I would also entertain votes for Machete.

Which one will I see and review? That's up to you. Vote for your choice either in the comments section below or on the Facebook page for Seluke's Movie reviews. Whichever movie gets the most votes will be reviewed.

Act now. Operators are standing by.

The Last Exorcism

Here's something you may not know about me – I only really hate three things in this world: old people, puppies, and scary movies. It's true. I hate scary movies. Always have; always will.

I just don't enjoy the experience of being frightened or startled. I find it unpleasant and I don't know why people pay $12 for the experience. Needless to say, I have never been a big fan of the horror movie genre. I find these movies fall into one of two categories of unpleasantness: (1 )Stupid people doing stupid things resulting in a stupid movie (See any slasher franchise) or (2) Genuinely frightening (The Exorcist, Amityville Horror, It). The second category tends to involve supernatural thrillers involving demons or evil spirits and this invariably freaks me out for a good two to three weeks after seeing it.

So when my colleagues at CBC Information Morning assigned The Last Exorcist as our next on air review, I knew I was in for another unpleasant movie-going experience. And that's exactly what I got. What I didn't know however, was why. I thought it would be a category 2 situation but instead turned into category 1. This is remarkable considering how great this movie started out.

The Last Exorcist takes the form of a mockumentary that follows Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian), a huckster country preacher who is more showman than man-of-God. His greatest talent as a showman is faking exorcisms. He still believes he is doing a good deed because if the people truly believe they have had demons cast out of them, they can go on living their lives.

But after he reads about a young boys death while having an exorcism performed on him, he has decided that he is getting out of that racket for good. But not before he exposes it for the smoke-and-mirrors con game that he knows it to be. So he's decides he's going to do one more phony exorcism and let a camera crew follow him, documenting the key parts of scam as he goes along. The case involves a 16 year-old girl named Nell (Ashley Bell) who appears to suffer from demonic possession. This will be Cotton's last exorcism.

What director Daniel Stamm has done beautifully here is set up a con-man-about-to-meet-the-real-thing story where we genuinely sympathize with the con man. We believe Cotton is basically a decent man who is performing a service for people who want it. He's simply trying to provide for his family, at one point saying "I used to wish for my own evangelical TV program but right now I'd just like to have health insurance."

So Cotton and his team meet Nell, her uber-fundamental, father Louis (Louis Herthum) and overly intense brother Caleb (Caleb Landry Jones). Cotton goes through his whole routine, faking bed shaking and shrieks as he does his act. He believes it to be a success and when he finishes counting his thick wad of bills for another job well done, he goes back to the hotel for a good night's sleep.

And this is where Cotton's plan goes awry.

Nell shows up at Cotton's motel in the middle of the night only she's not quite Nell. She's nowhere near the head-spinning, pea-soup puking girl that Linda Blair portrayed in the 1973 classic. But there is clearly something not right with this Nell. What Cotton does next is very telling. Instead of assuming genuine possession, he rushes her to the hospital assuming there must be something physically wrong with her. At his core, he still believes in secular explanations.

At this point, this film has my complete and undivided attention. It has set up a beautiful two part narrative question: is Nell really suffering from demonic possession and if so, can the con man summon enough genuine faith to save her? Very few movies have so skilfully set up the second half of the movie for what has to be a rich and rewarding payoff. The only thing that is missing in this film is a rich and rewarding payoff.

Without going into too many plot points, the movie never fully realizes its potential in the con man vs. real demons story. There is one brief scene in the barn where the demon seems to make an appearance and taunts Cotton for his lack of faith. But it never goes any further than that.

MAJOR SPOLIER WARNING HERE!!!!

The entire third act feels like it was stolen from The Blair Witch Project (1999). It involves lots of shaky-cam POV shots as they run through the woods trying to identify the location of certain screams. And when they stumble upon the source of the screams, the movie rushes to a lightning fast and unsatisfying ending. The filmmakers thought they were executing a nice reveal but in going out of their way to deliver this twist reveal, they abandoned what was working so well before. This ending doesn't answer either of the fundamental story questions addressed above.

Was she really possessed? This question becomes moot when you see the ending of this movie. Does Cotton find his genuine faith? Again, never answered and not relevant in this ending. So bottom line, this movie fails miserably in delivering on the promise of its set up.

It's a shame too because there was a lot to like in this film. Fabian and Bell were riveting in their scenes together. These were two really solid performances that sadly went to waste.

But at least the movie confirmed my long-held belief that I don't enjoy scary movies. As for the other things I mentioned off the top, I was just joking.

I don't hate puppies.