The appeal of the film is manifold - its serenity as The American meticulously goes about his craft; the paucity of dialogue that heightens its few action sequences when they do occur; a superb ensemble of actors led by Clooney that also includes Violante Placido (Clara), Thekla Reuten (assassin), Johan Leysen (controller), and Paolo Bonacelli (as a local town priest); the artistic
framing of the film by director Anton
Corbijn both in its interiors and the long
shots of the Italian settings; and simply the story's uncertainty that grips one from its very beginning.