The American Was Actually A Character Driven Art House Film
I don’t think anyone walked into The American expecting Bourne levels of action and thrills, but boy was this a slow movie. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but the trailers certainly didn’t advertise it as a character driven piece of cinema.
Like Drive, The American is punctuated by the occasional bout of action, but its main focus is on Clooney’s toned down, yet still impressive performance and the stunning cinematography, which is definitely easy on the eyes.
If you can stick with it, The American is actually a very good film, it’s just more for the art house crowd than the general public. Those who went into it thinking that they’d be seeing a badass Clooney kicking down doors and taking names ended up getting anything but that, and I’m sure that more than a few people walked out of the theatre awfully bewildered.
Whether it was done on purpose or not, The American marketed itself to the wrong crowd, pretending to be a sleek spy thriller and instead turning out to be a slow, deliberately paced and beautifully shot film.