During the wait, he was told by his handler to meet Mathilde (Thekla Reuten), who asked him to make a special weapon for her. And during his time in the village, he befriends the local parish priest Father Benedetto (Paolo Bonacelli) and courts the local whore Clara (Violante Placido).

Don’t expect The American to be an action thriller because that’s what I thought of after watching the trailers for this movie. In reality, it is a slow-paced, quiet, introspective movie. It is a riveting character study. We don’t know anything about Jack’s past but we learn about his integrity or the lack of it as a human being.

Director Anton Corbijin frequently showed Clooney doing everyday tasks as he waits for his assignment. But instead of getting bored with it, it elicited the opposite. A huge part of why it got my attention is due to Violante Placido’s character, Clara. She was effective and captivating as a prostitute who falls in love with Jack. But this is not Pretty Woman.

At first, having sex with Clara was just a past time for Jack but as the movie progressed, it showed two individuals who were sincerely caring for each other. The sex scenes in the movie were appropriate because they showed how the character’s relationship progressed from being lustful to pure love.

Performances from the actors were superb. I’m not a Clooney fan but as a tormented hit man, his acting is perfect. Violante Placido is not my ideal girl but as Clara, she got my whole attention. Thekla Reuten played her part well as Jack’s rival assassin.

Pavel (John Leysen): And above all… don’t make any friends, Jack. You used to know that.

Jack made her gun to backfire when shot but he still died in the end. The American teaches us that to be an assassin, you must not lose your edge or else you’ll be eliminated. It’s sad that it ended for him just as he was starting to have a normal life.

The American is like a short story. It focused on a moment and let the viewer savor its details. It is about professionalism, loneliness, betrayal, love and revenge. Not everyone would enjoy the film but I do hope you give it a try.

Bingham wants to be a legend among air travelers. Just when he’s about to reach his millionth frequent flyer mile, he is told by his company that he’ll be grounded indefinitely as they implement a new system designed by Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick).

Bingham’s boss Craig Gregory (Jason Bateman) assigned him to show Keener the ropes so that she could incorporate it into the new system. This is where most of the funny moments of Up in the Air happened. It’s a hilarious look into three people’s strengths and weaknesses. This is also where the important message of the movie was conveyed.

Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga): I thought we signed up for the same thing… I thought our relationship was perfectly clear. You are an escape. You’re a break from our normal lives. You’re a parenthesis.

Vera Farmiga is a natural seductress. I found myself draw into her even though she’s not my type. She’s the opposite of Anna Kendrick’s character, who is a know-it-all and annoying at times. We all met a Natalie Keener once and wished we can “unmeet” somebody. Bingham showed his compassionate side when after resigning from the company he gave her a glowing letter of recommendation.

While Up is the Air is a good movie, I don’t get all the hype it got. The story is predictable and you’ll forget about it a couple of hours after watching it. It tried to reach out to the jobless by giving them hope in the end but it failed to show the sincerity of the companies that fired them in the first place. And am I the only one who thought that Bingham was condescending when he told a man that his being fired is his chance to be a chef. This after the man talked about his mortgage and his daughter’s medical needs.

Up in the Air is a good distraction from the real world but it’s nothing special. It has a satisfactory ending and would make you feel good. Clooney fans will definitely enjoy this one.

Its star studded cast which includes George Clooney (Harry Pfarrer), Frances McDormand (Linda Litzke), John Malkovich (Osbourne Cox), and Tilda Swanton (Katie Cox)delivered awesome performances but special mention should be of Brad Pitt’s role (Chad Feldheimer) in this movie. He might just be the support but his innocence is believable and played a vital part in the plot.

Burn After Reading is a comedy that lets makes you use your brain rather than leave it outside the ticket counter. But you must not over analyze it. When you do, you’ll miss the fun and the genius that the Coen Brothers has embedded into this film.

Osbourne Cox (John Malkovich): You are part of a league of morons. Oh, yes. You see you’re one of the morons I’ve been fighting my whole life. But guess what. Today, I win.

*Spoiler*
Basically the plot is about Osbourne Cox, a CIA analysis that quit his job. Then somewhere along the way, a copy of his memoire got lost and found by Chad Feldheimer and Linda Litzke. Cox’s wife Katie is having an affair with Harry Pfarrer, a womanizer who has a fling with Linda. Linda wanted plastic surgery done on her to look younger. Cut the story short, Harry accidentally killed Chad and went into hiding. Osbourne was killed by a CIA agent while hacking Chad and Linda’s boss. Linda got her wish of plastic surgery.