Set in the scenic tourist village of Castel Del Monte, /The American/ (2010) is a post-Cold War spy flick movie starring George Clooney and some fineass European bitches: Thekla Reuten plays the Belgian assassin "Jack" (Clooney) is making "a sniper rifle with the attributes of an assault rifle" for, Matthilde. She goes on to off herself with his masterpiece, while trying to shoot Jack in the head with it, but not before Jack falls for Violante Placido, who plays Clara--the Italian whore he shags twice before deciding she's The One. A hitman and gunsmith by trade, Jack is getting a bit old to be stalked by hipster Swedes, so his thoughts begin to naturally drift toward retirement. This is partly brought about by discussions with a kindly old pedophile priest who's sired a bastard son, so Jack's interest in finding some hot ass and retiring to a beach someplace seems natural and unforced. The real highlight of this otherwise laconic, fairly depressing film is watching Placido go from whorehouse working girl to future wife-prospect--her smiles are infectious, and the way she makes love to/for the camera is far more memorable an interesting than seeing Clooney whittle away at his rifle and dodge bullets.

We give it 3.5 out of 5 horsecocks. 8======o~~