The latest George Clooney movie The American is not a kick-ass Bourne style action flick as the trailer would have you believe. It is however a kick-ass modern western made with superior skill and filled with great performances. It’s a film that uses the clichés of the hitman genre with refreshing restraint while making them seem new again.

The movie was made by Ductchman Anton Corbijn, the same director of the best music biopic you never saw, 2007′s Control. A sleek black and white piece about Joy Division’s Ian Curtis, that makes Walk the Line look like an episode of American Idol. Corbijn uses more of his minimalist stylings and deliberately slow pacing present in that film here. While the general audience may dismiss this as boring, the rest of us will be entertained as the film slowly builds to it’s conclusion.

I compared the film to a western above, and the plot of the film truly does reflect that. A lone anti-hero (Clooney) is an assassin out on one last job in a small, but beautiful Italian town. There he meets a priest who senses his past sins and wishes to help him. He also begins to fall in love with a hooker with a heart of gold, which begins to dull his previously razor sharp edge. Not a good thing to have happen when the black hats from your last job are still after you.

Clooney and the preist played by Paolo Bonacelli.

All of sounds typical but Clooney is so good as a the tired and connection seeking hitman Jack that everything falls into place. Irina Björklund as his sweet and unsuspecting love interest also help us by into the illusion. The cinematography by Martin Ruhe is also excellent, and was helped by the amazing location.

Corbijn’s direction of the film is generally flawless. Techniques that most filmmakers overuse in movies like these such as music, close-ups, and even action are only employed when absolutely necessary to the story. Which is almost always in the right places. If i had one complaint about the film it would be that it sometimes feels too cold to fully envelope me in the story.

Director Anton Corbijn and DP Martin Ruhe.

One of my favorites things about the picture were the references to one of my favorite films, Sergio Leone’s western masterpiece Once Upon a Time in the West. Fans will surly see how this is reflected in the end of the movie.

If your in the mood for a quieter summer experience The American will surely fit the bill, but I’m not sure how it will play with general audiences. At it’s best the film is a nice throwback to the lone hero pieces of old, and at it’s worst it’s still better than most genre movies released this year. See it and decide for yourself.