The American (2010)

Ever want to see what Jason Bourne would be doing in his mid/late 40's?. Me either.
But let's say for arguments sake you did, you'd probably LOVE The American, starring one George Clooney as a custom firearm manufacturer trooping about Europe.

This unfortunately is another American film that thinks just because it's set predominantly in Eurpoean country, that it's a European film. While the beautiful Italian countryside shots (and for that matter, Beautiful Italian Women) keep your eyes wanting more, the story leads you DEMANDING more. the Term "slow burner" comes to mind while we go from "not much happening" to "some stuff's happening" back to "nothings happening" until we get to see George in a (kinda) sex scene. Not as much fun as you'd think.

While Mr Clooney does manage to convey a "been there, done that" sensibility to the performance (in a more grown up way than The Expendables) the whole feature still feels dry, and lacking a momentous and poignant conclusion I felt it was set up to be, instead we get a "so-so" final act where shit goes down and I feel neither uplifted nor deflated.

Clooney is on top form, can't doubt that, but this feature hardly keeps my on tippy toes for a huge resurgence in his career. Italian tits and custom guns make this a tantalising "manly" enough feature while picnics in the sun and George Clooney hold enough draw for women. I think. 5/10

The Men Who Stare at Goats

A film about a branch in the US army that uses the power of the mind and the will to do good to win wars, who refer to themselves as 'Jedi'. Like most of the jokes and the plot, the concept is quite amusing. But, it will rarely get you laughing, or really even thinking about any sort of bigger picture. Can it really be taken seriously?

While it's certainly a nice idea and story, it left very little impression on me as a viewer. While the satire is quite well done, the characters are not likeable enough to really care about, Spacey's antagonist isn't really hatable enough either. It's all a bit too safe, undramatic, and as a result I found it very hard to be absorbed by the events unfolding. While much of it is very quirky, and very easy to watch in an inoffensive kind of way, it's never going to be someone's favourite film. It would have benefited drastically by pushing the more ludicrous elements to the forefront and really using them as real gags, or toning it down and going for a bit more drama, because there was potential there. Without that, it treads the middle ground between offensive and passive and doesn't really provoke any reaction at all. Still, I could watch Clooney, Bridges and Spacey act all day.

5/10