woljm45

22 May 2012

I hate to be THAT GUY that bashes a movie, but.....

This was by far the worst movie experience I had in my life. It's notthat its painstakingly slow, its the fact that nothing happens at all.You wait and wait and wait, and there's zero payoff. People left the theater halfway through(which also happened withanother Clooney film in Syrainna). I started it so, so I stuck it outpraying for it to end ASAP. I understand there's some artistic value inthe slow and quiet approach, so I'll give some credit for tryingsomething different, but this was way overboard and made for awfulviewing.Basically Clooney plays some type of hit-man/gunrunner who has to spendtime in an old fashion village waiting to make a gun deal. While in thevillage he mingles with some of the locals, and even pick up a loveinterest. There is some violence towards the end to help wake audiencesfrom their coma, but in no way is it worth the wait.

portsea

22 May 2012

Not what I expected!

I had heard various things, mostly bad about this film from friends whohad seen it in the cinema... Dark, boring, long amongst the comments.Beautiful scenery was also mentioned, and this was probably the onlything I found to be true. Although I understand why those friends saidit was boring, I found it to be anything but..... The story was veryintricate, and if one didn't pay attention, you would be lost veryquickly, possibly then making it boring as you had missed vital partsof the story. Cinematography was nothing short of amazing, thelandscapes are just stunning. I found Clooney brilliant, I've alwaysliked his work, but its a major surprise to see him on something soEuropean, and not Oceans 100, which is a great film, but nothing likethis. The actresses are just stunning, sexy, and play there partsbeautifully. I loved the mixing of Italian and English, although itmust be said, on a small screen with average sound, it was sometimeshard to understand what was being said. Not the the films fault ofcourse.I think this is one the greatest Art House type films I've seen,probably in the same category as Lost in Translation and I should say,I really don't like watching Art House films..... I cant imagineClooney doing anything to top this, but would love him to try! I sowish id seen it in the cinema.....

rbrb

20 May 2012

This Italian Job is desperately in need of anti-depressants.....

I missed the first 15 minutes of this movie and alas I later learnedthat it was the most interesting part of the film.The story is about anAmerican "hit man" who has gone to Italy to carry out some job. All thewomen in this picture look the same. I really have very little ideawhat the film is about and it seemed to me the players are of a similaropinion. The lead actor was trying to put in some kind of Oscarperformance but came across as totally pretentious and uttering boring.For the whole movie he looks unwell and in a kind of manic depressivestate, which I guess is not surprising due to the awfulness of thefilm. A few pleasant scenes featuring the Italian countryside etc justsaves this film from the lowest vote possible, hence:2/10

Yo-yo

19 May 2012

NO ACTION AT ALL!!!!

Warning! This is one of those "artsy" films that don't do anything. I went expecting a spy thriller. NO! Unless you want to learn how to file metal (you read that right) AVOID THIS!We kept waiting for ANY action to begin! ANY! At the end, several people in a audience laughed because they were in shock. As in, "That was it???!!!!???" type of shock.I recommended my friend and I see this and I know he is gonna lord this over me (as an error in judgement) for the next five years. We actually came out wishing we had see Parana-3D (the biting fish movie).

Sick and Tired

19 May 2012

Youre Kidding right??!!!!!!!!!

From beginning to end you have no idea what the movie is about...a six year old could have written the script. I like thrillers, but this wasnt one. You had no idea who was who or what the story was about. It had no plot...a couple of chases, killings, but you didnt know who they were or why.oh yea "the sweeds found me" Why were they looking for him???? Hell I dont know..Stupid Stupid waste of time and 19 dollars. Clooney put up his own money...go figure. Just when you thought you would learn something.....the credits came onSad....ask for stimulus money next time and produce a real film

damien0215

18 May 2012

Frought with inaccuracies.

Any potential this movie could have had was lost in a sea of glaringtechnical errors and as little talking as an awkward first date. For amovie that centers a lot (of its little) dialogue on guns, it never gotany of it right. It was like reading a history paper on France wherethe writer confused Napoleon for Stalin and got all of the dates wrong- don't try to seem versed in technical jargon if you can't speak thelanguage.If you read "nysalesman100-1" review, some of this will be redundant.He got a lot of things right and a few quite wrong. He said it's amodified M14 - It isn't, it's a stock Ruger Mini-14 and fires a 5.56mmbullet (also, an assassin would not use a MP5, as it fires pistolbullets so it's worthless at the range described). Clooney's"gunsmithing" was literally him doing a basic reassembly that one woulddo for a routine cleaning following a day at the shooting range. Notimpressive.Clooney's pistol is a Walther PPK- a gun known for its low magazinecapacity, inaccuracy and that the feeding lip doesn't cyclehollow-points - a must for a gun with that little stopping-power. I getthe homage to James Bond, but it is a ridiculous choice for a sidearm.I don't think anyone ever accused a Bond film for being realistic so itwas a blunder to follow in those footsteps.The woman says "silencer" and George Clooney says that isn't possible,only a suppressor. "Silencers" don't exist (only suppressors do) and itis an easy gauge to tell that the writer didn't do his research andthat the person talking has only superficial knowledge of the subject.What they said may be over the layman's head, but if you know anythingabout firearms it, like all of the gun-centric elements, was asophomoric attempt at sounding cool and edgy whilst butchering thefacts and fumbling the details.What the female assassin requested was a gun for: 150-175m range, atime of 5-7 seconds, 1 target, rapid fire with large mag capacity.Okay, let's dissect this. There is no reason that one would need alarge magazine capacity for ONE TARGET, not to mention that a womanwith a petite build couldn't rapidly group several shots at 175 metersin 5-7 seconds anyway. It was a conversation that would not and couldnot ever happen. A sniper is trained to fire one shot for one kill - abolt action rifle would be the standard choice, never a light-barreledMini-14.Another middle school level dialogue exchange was once the femaleassassin assembled the Mini14 and asked about the ammunition andClooney said, "ten jacketed and ten expanding," and she wants 20 ofeach and 20 explosive. A 5.56 is essentially an ogive shaped .22 and isfar too small to load an "explosive" in, and using mercury isridiculous for a bullet with that type of velocity (mercury is usedalmost exclusively with bullets 165 grains and higher, versus this at55 grains), and ALL kinds of gun calibers come in "jacketed" and"expanding" types, so it was an unnecessary piece of dialogue whichjust proved further that this was written out of the comfort zone ofthe creator. About five minutes later the woman asks, "muzzle velocity?" To whichClooney replies, "360 miles an hour, including 20 miles an hour off forsound suppressor." Oh dear god, how does their technical adviser let adetail like that slide? The muzzle velocity with this gun and round isabout six times that (over 2,000 miles an hour). If the crew just readthe side of the box the ammunition came in they would know that.Lastly, muzzle velocity is always presented in either feet per secondor meters per second (more likely, being that this is Italy) so it isjust another mark against them and proof that this movie lacksexactness and polish.Between the gun and the suppressor he is paid ~$20,000 - this isludicrous. The gun can be bought for under $700 at Dick's Sportinggoods and the suppressor could be made by following simple instructionsonline out of a Maglite flashlight tube and Brillo pads for sounddampening. When the woman finally does use the sniper rifle, she fires it standing(albeit pressing against a wall) which is not something that wouldoccur (one would use a bipod or fire it prone).Moral of the story: Don't write a movie centered around a concept youneither know nor understand.

17 May 2012

A Movie That Stays With You

This review is from: The American (Amazon Instant Video) Very well done movie....I see why George Clooney chose to be in the film. And Clooney delivers a very deep character that only Clooney can pull off. If you watched Michel Clayton, then you will see glimpses of that portrayal in this movie too. It's more about what is not being said and the underlying feelings and currents that makes this movie exceptional. You actually have to pay attention to nuances instead of being spoonfed. I watched this movie 2 months ago, and it echoes even now. If you are looking for an action, knock 'em sock 'em type of movie then this isn't it. If you are looking for a heavy duty plot like Inception, then this isn't it. But, if you are looking for a movie that delves inside a man caught between what should be and what is...Man against himself, Man against Nature and Man against Man...then you will love this movie. And from an artist's viewpoint, this is a masterpiece. Well done!

17 May 2012

Ultimately Disappointing and Unimaginative

This review is from: The American (Amazon Instant Video) I too was mislead in thinking this was more a thriller that what it turned out to be. Yet that wasn't the problem with the film. Nor was the slow pace, scenic cinematography, the symbolism, occasional subtitles, the full frontal nudity, the minimal action scenes, the acting, the problem at all. It was kinda like a "Lost in Translation" of hired assassins last job movies. The script is what ultimately leads you astray from potentially a good film into a semi-predictable ending with some head-scratching subplots. Clooney was great in his stoic demeanor aching to break free from his life and actually connect with someone for a change. The smoking hot Italian prostitute he eventually falls for is his lifeline out of the nomadic solitude he leads. Yet the film makers throw some incomprehensible and unexplained actions along his way and never give the audience a proper payoff.

Gin-ster

15 May 2012

Story and acting unworthy of arty treatment

This film has an aura of being arty and deep. The cinematography isartistic, with evocative views of Sweden(?) and parts of Italy. Thebackground, props, etc. are all very well selected and photographed. Anaura of weightiness and importance hangs over the whole thing. Which iswhy I rate it so low - it is entirely pretentious, with a storyunworthy of the full-on arty treatment. It's basically (SPOILER ALERTHERE!!!!) the simple story of a nasty fellow who kills without remorse,and suddenly develops some. Then he gets chased by equally remorse-freeindividuals until they die and he dies. The problem is, "So what?" Thefact that small Italian towns are gorgeous, as is Mr. Clooney himself,doesn't make any of this meaningful or the least bit engaging. I doubtmany would find the character Clooney plays to be the least bitsympathetic, nor is there any "depth" to him that would make us see himas a conflicted soul. He simply frowns his way through the movie - tothe point where it becomes grating. I would recommend that if you'regoing to have a film about an assassin, keep it at the "James Bond"level of silly and cast Bruce Willis as your aging angst-sufferer. Thenleave the arty, pretentious "production values" to a human drama whichmerits them.

ThreeGuysOneMovie

14 May 2012

Great movie terrible marketing

If after seeing the previews you were looking forward to seeing a JamesBond or Jason Bourne action movie you might be disappointed in thisfilm. However, if you approach this film with an open mind anddisregard the trailers for the film I think you may be pleasantlysurprised.Clooney plays a stone cold killer of an assassin, as the first fewminutes of the film will make abundantly clear. I felt like I had beenslapped in the face. After escaping an assassination attempt, Jack/ Mr.Butterfly (Clooney) goes on the run. He accepts one last job from hisemployers that he has grown to distrust but needs that last score.While bidding his time and hiding from people trying to kill him hebefriends a priest and falls in love with a prostitute with absolutelyamazing breasts. I know it's not the most original plot in the worldbut it works in this film.I thought the cinematography in the film was spectacular the wide angleand long shots were amazing. I would love to check out the town wherethis was shot it looked like an M.C. Escher drawing. I had seen andenjoyed director Anton Corbijn's previous film Control (2007).Although, this film was completely dissimilar to that previous workboth are worth checking out.The pacing in the film is slow and deliberate. There is a lack ofdialogue. Most of the actors other than Clooney are foreign. We watchClooney collect mail walk around town, lay in bed reading and go abouthis work in silence. Critics and reviewers loved to hate this filmdeclaring it pretentious and contrived. The film trailer portrays thefilm as an action film. Despite all these perceived drawbacks I reallyenjoyed the film and found it to the equivalent of a full meal at afine restaurant rather than a trip to the drive through for some fastfood.This film reminded me of a well written Ernest Hemingway short story.From the strong male character struggling against society andcircumstance, the Spartan dialogue, use of symbolism, imagery andforcing the audience to think and make judgments for themselves itsshort story narrative at its best.Go check this out and decide for yourself. I thoroughly enjoyed thefilm for all the reasons so many people hated it.

08 May 2012

Good flick but pay attention !

This review is from: The American (DVD) Good movie that moves along at a stop and go pace.Interaction between priest and Clooney is very deep. Wished for a happier ending but didn"t get it. All in all a good movie with some surprising twists and turns. Buy it!

Oblomov

08 May 2012

Mental torture

After sitting through this movie of which I had hoped it would beworthwhile: the trailer looked interesting; Clooney is always good;Corbijn, a former photographer, let loose in Italy; and the story of ahired killer on his last assignment, all this sounded good to me.However, the action is so slow that even I, as a European, had to stopmyself from shouting: "Get on with it." To stay positive: George Clooney again proves he is a very good actorand also a handful of shots can certainly be called pretty. That said,the story is thin, some events, like the backfiring rifle, areridiculous and out of sync with the rest of the movie; the dialog isoften plain boring. Now I understand that this is done on purpose. The director maybe wantsto show the loneliness and inability to communicate by portrayingsomeone who cannot speak about his actions as they are illegal or speakabout this with other criminals, whom he can't trust. After a whilethen something of a salvation is presented in the form of an unspokenlove for a prostitute, which is a cliché, I think, used to emphasizethe cheapness and predictability of life or is that perhaps his ownlife he's talking about. Therewith the movie becomes a demonstration ofthe intellectual poverty of the director himself. Apparently then, Corbijn, a fellow Dutchman, values his rather shallowand redundant philosophical analysis more highly than the level ofsatisfaction for his audience. Would he care about that? This is not soobvious as he is part of that cultural elite that still seems to beliving in the previous century. And that is exactly where this moviebelongs: it would have been great in 1978.I have decided to give the movie three stars: one for George Clooney,one for a half dozen nice shots and one for the breasts of the Italianactress who's name I can't remember.

06 May 2012

A waste of time...

I kept waiting for this movie to get going... It never did. It was boring mixed with gratuitous, unnecessary sex scenes. Even the ending was horrible. I am much relieved I rented and didn't buy this terrible film.

05 May 2012

Filled with Filler camera shots and a complete bore.

The American stars George Clooney as some sort of agent or assassin that is being trailed by the Swedes and is hiding out in an Italian town. Why he is being trailed is never explained and the action in this movie probably amounts to less than 5 minutes in all. This is not a thriller or a drama. It's not an action movie or much of anything really. The movie moves at a snails pace with tons of filler camera shots that mean nothing. The shots seem to be there just to use time because there is nothing behind them. Conversations are few and far between and they take place for maybe 3 minutes and then it is back to useless camera shots and angles of Clooney looking like a tormented zombie. We see Clooney exercise several times and then we see him making a gun for another assassin in torturing detail and more filler.Unless you like slow movies that go nowhere and end predictably with nothing being explained then you might want to stay away from this exercise in viewing tedium.

05 May 2012

Dull and pointless? - Or a smart, refreshing take on the thriller genre?

By some viewers, `The American,' based on the novel `A Very Private Gentleman' by British author Martin Booth, will be deemed `a work of art.' By others - a dull, overly long character piece, lacking in both plot and pace. So which is it? Well each of these views can be fully appreciated and understood after having reached the 100 minute mark. It depends almost entirely on the level of your expectations and whether or not you have the patience to be rewarded by what for me was a very engrossing and compelling piece of film. But my immediate reaction after having left the cinema 100 minutes and nine pounds sixty later? - Certainly that this is a film which cares more about taking a look at the behaviour of character rather than your conventional Hollywood tale full of stylish edits, breakneck cliffhangers, predictable dialogue and cheesy love scenes. Ultimately though, my very first thought was `what a pleasant surprise.' - If film-goers are used to watching a lot of the Hollywood thrillers like the one's I've just described (e.g. `Quantum of Solace,' `Taken'...etc - good films in their own right) then of course `The American' will seem like the slow, boring, "nothing really happens" film it's been accused of being. You can't come straight from having watched Angelina Jolie's `Salt' or Liam Neeson's `The A Team' and expect to enjoy `The American,' which you'll have seen advertised as a spy thriller with George Clooney, so it's only natural to think that it will follow in a similar fashion. It doesn't. - Instead, `The American' follows more in the wake of thrillers like Mel Gibson's `Edge of Darkness' in terms of action/suspense and more like Jeff Bridges' `True Grit' in terms of character/plot development. Instead of long winded action set pieces, it has sudden but meaningful bursts of violence which work almost as effectively as in `Edge of Darkness' to contrast the slow but involving scenes of character and intrigue that worked so well in `True Grit.' So if your tastes run more toward the mainstream of Hollywood thrillers then maybe this is not the film for you. However, what if I told you the film contains a car chase, five assassination attempts on Clooney's character, a femme fatale who isn't all she appears to be, a suspenseful foot pursuit through a narrow maze of streets with two professional hit men trying to outwit and kill one another, a steamy sex scene, a face to face showdown and a 7 person body count (more than `The Bourne Ultimatum'). Well it does. But although this may not sound boring, I can understand how the direction and execution of these set pieces could be interpreted as such. Anton Corbijn, a Dutch director known for his photography and music videos, effectively has the opposite of Paul Greengrass's flashy editing of handheld cameras used to create a sense of urgency that was used for the Bourne films, instead opting for a more reflective take on the action. Fans of Clooney will either love or hate this film. Those who aren't fans of Clooney are likely to love it, as he gives arguably the most un-Clooney like performance of his career to date, using the same solemn intensity we saw flashes of in `Michael Clayton' and `Syriana' and turning it up to the max. Gone is the easy smile and likable charm that Clooney is known for exuding better than anyone, replaced with hard eyed stares and a strong sense of vulnerability that Clooney does well not to overdo when communicating the troubles of his flawed character to the audience. Aided by a fresh and solid supporting cast with the likes of Thekla Reuten (In Bruges), Violante Placido and Paolo Bonacelli, Clooney has a great deal of talent to play off and Herbert Grönemeyer's contemplative music score only underlines and adds to the atmospheric, brooding quality that the film proudly possesses. Reuten brings a coldly effective steeliness to her emotionless assassin, Placido is immediately likeable as Clara, the sweet and loving prostitute and Bonacelli delivers a knowing, world weary gravitas to his philosophical role as the priest that makes you hang on to his every word and whose scenes with Clooney are the forefront for the film's moral statement and raising of questions. So eventually, the audience end up rooting for a hit man and a prostitute, showing that not everyone is black or white. Assassination of innocent people and prostitution as occupations are controversial to say the least, so why do we end up liking these characters and wanting them to be happy? Even the squeaky clean priest is shown to have kept a dark secret, hidden away in his past. So the film's message is that everyone, no matter who they are, strives to be better and find redemption. Every single character is revealed to have sinned one way or another and a powerful line from the film is Clooney's response to the priest when being told to seek God's forgiveness, `I don't think God's very interested in me Father.' Something which could be said for all the characters and all of us in general, as highlighted by Clooney's meaningful line, `All men are sinners.' Verdict: Not perfect but with wonderful craftsmanship from Corbijin's subtle direction to a powerful, hard hitting performance by Clooney, this is the first of its kind for the thriller genre. And hopefully not the last. If you keep an open mind and watch it with no expectations, then like me - you'll find `The American' to be a very pleasant surprise. A smart and subtle piece of drama. Review by MARK PAYNE

ellidoog

05 May 2012

falls apart eventually

Moves slow but interestingly at start. Moody hit man reflecting on hislife without saying anything. Lots of great looking women, somewonderfully naked. Then, after about an hour, one of the worst cuts ofediting ever seen in a movie (down by the river). Then the show simplyfalls apart. Super careful characters are stupidly careless. Othercharacters go where they would never go given their persona in themovie. And as usual, no matter how long or short anything takes, thecops arrive just after the main guys have left the scene. Golly, justmissed them again. By the way if you have a small town of a couple ofthousand, just how many murders does it take until the cops figure outsomething is not right here.

03 May 2012

Mediocre, empty, slow, boring.

From "Up in the air", to down in the ditch, George Clooney presents the most boring and self aggrandizing movie. With few guns and few naked women, the narration crawled like a turtle with purposeless scenes and dialogues. Depressing was the frozen facial expressions of the Clooney and his stiffed leg movements. In "Up in the air", Clooney was able to conceal his limited physical ability with neat dresses and makeup. In "The American", neither the push ups nor the chin ups would have transformed a clumsy aged Clooney into a graceful athlete. Sex, violence, suspicion, and conspiracy, all failed to make the movie engaging due to the total lack of climaxing theme. Any amateur with a camera could have filmed the poor spots in Italy and came up with reasonable outcome. Not, here. On the onset, you have romantic and provocative setting that ended in three murders. To the end, you would never figure out what was the motive or underlying themes of those crimes. With George Clooney at the center of each scene and his signature of home exercising to stay fit, the viewers are left with a shady plot if there was any. The places were empty. The dialogues were scarce and irrelevant. The pace was annoying, slow, and immaterial.

Hellrazr360

03 May 2012

Silent and Vague

The American is quite a striking film, partly thanks to the fact wedon't see releases of its nature often; and even fewer of them are evenclose to what one would call a "blockbuster." While many of theindividual aspects to the film aren't exactly unfamiliar (assassinationagent, small cast carrying the burden-most of it on a single lead,etc.), the combination of them here is just the start of what makes itinteresting to analyze.George Clooney plays an agent who's seen his life become embodied by aweapon and killing-type field with several unrevealed details. Ratherthan introducing us up-front to the plot and characters, we literallyfollow Jack (Clooney) over a short stretch of time as if documentingpart of his life without commentary or interjection. This also leads toanother peculiar trait of the film: it's incredibly quiet. Going in,one will likely expect an at least mildly strident action/thriller.Instead, however, we get what could be described as a scarcely eventfulthriller (with a couple other genres working their way in).The benefit to this approach is that, during certain scenes, we trulyget the feeling of being alongside Jack, with hardly more than silenceand thoughts to ourselves. It's an admirable way to go about things,certainly, but the quiet nature is so prominent that it make somestretches of the runtime feel weary and sleep-inducing. Granted, thefilm probably wouldn't have fared any better with variations in thevolume (which would likely make the tone inconsistent), but a "thingscould be worse" view doesn't excuse shortcomings.Speaking of under-toned, Clooney's performance throughout the entirefilm is incredibly subdued. We get a number of points where Jack rubshis face or mutely reveals tension to us. Emotional delivery is not thename of the game here, which is well in-character, but the fact that wenever get an even brief shift in Clooney's tone makes Jack seem lessrealistic. I understand the intent is to refrain from putting feelingson display, but, to quote Ellis Redding, "every man has his breakingpoint." Jack doesn't go completely solo in the film, though hiscontacts are even sparser than his lines of dialogue. His primarycontacts come to be his boss, Larry, in a few phone calls, the friendlyand honest Father Benedetto, Ingrid, an inspecting lady on his missionand Clara, a lovely seducer who Jack becomes quite involved with. Withthe exception of Larry, we get to see a sufficient amount of thesecharacters to at least feel some legitimate connection, with Clarabeing the brightest light. All told, the cast do an adequate job withtheir roles, though only Clara and Father Benedetto feel truly honestin this developed but barren sea.On a more positive note, we get some excellent camera work throughoutthe entire film. While the shots aren't on caliber with, say, Road toPerdition, what's provided is very eye-catching. Probably the best partabout the cinematography is that it doesn't try to give us perfectdetails. Oftentimes the beauty of locations aren't realized withoutimperfections, and it's nice to see a film that understands andembraces this. Some points aren't incredibly detailed and we don't getcompletely vivid colors or brightness, but this lends the locations afar more natural feel. And even during the few "action" scenes there'sno worry about quick cuts or "shaky-cam;" everything is coherentlycaptured.It might seem that I found The American to be a very weak film, butthis isn't necessarily the case. There's definitely enough going for itthat a viewing is warranted simply for the fact that it's a differentdish than what we're normally served. However, simply avoiding clichésdoesn't automatically mean it's completely superior. Faults have foundtheir way into the movie and a couple of them are rather prominent.Taken as a whole, The American provides a worthwhile experience withsome bumps along the way but, in spite of them, is still bound to leaveat least some impression on its viewers.

Bill Jordan

02 May 2012

Cant wait for the sequel, The Italian

Have to put myself in the camp with those who thought this anonsensical snoozefest (and my fiancé agrees). Seems that somefilmmakers think watching someone brood for long periods of time makesfor deep meaning. Nah, it just makes the viewer bored out of his skull.On top of that, add a plot that makes little sense where nothing isexplained, and you have a cure for insomnia. Unfortunately, I can sleepfor free, so I'd rather not pay $20 to do so. I can't believe thisthing actually won the Labor Day weekend box-office. My fiancé and Iwere watching an excellent movie on on-demand yesterday, "City Island,"and in one scene Alan Arkin criticizes actors who make deliberatepauses for no reason. His character would have loathed "The American."I'm guessing you will too - if you don't heed the bad review here-in.The criticisms have already been levied by others, so no point inrepeating them. Ignore them at your own risk.

okieindian

01 May 2012

Boring

George Clooney, shame on you for attempting to portray yourself as aserious actor. The scene "going down" on a working prostitute, who had turned x numberof tricks that day was particularly disgusting. George Clooney, shameon you for attempting to portray yourself as a serious actor. The long drawn out scenes of "expressions" only served to punish theviewer even more for believing Clooney could make a decent movie.GeorgeClooney, shame on you for attempting to portray yourself as a seriousactor. ETC..The only thing that was of interest in the entire movie was the nudescenes showing the prostitute. But she was the only thing worthwhile inthe movie..